Professor held for misbehaving with students

Police said Ragunathan, head of the department of BBA, has been accused of sending objectionable messages to girl students and also called them over phone during night hours to speak with on a wrong intention.

In a complaint raised by a student, police said that Ragunathan forced a girl, who failed to submit her practical note, to accompany him in his car and tried to misbehave with her en-route near Palladam. The girl stoutly resisted his indecent move and got down from the car.

The issue came to the spotlight after the students resorted to a protest demanding the arrest of the accused.

They also handed out a petition to District Collector GS Sameeran alleging inaction by the college administration. As a large number of students continued their protest for the second consecutive day by boycotting the class on Friday, the Race Course police took Ragunathan into custody for an inquiry.

After charges against him were found to be true, the police arrested him under IPC sections 363 (kidnap), 354 (Assault or criminal force to woman with intent to outrage her modesty), 506 (criminal intimidation) and section 4 of Prohibition of Women Harassment Act.