Beef question at school, caste abuse: Teacher and two students arrested after Coimbatore teen’s suicide

CHENNAI: A Class 11 student died by suicide in Coimbatore following alleged caste-based harassment at school. Police arrested the class teacher and two classmates in connection with the case. The school’s headmaster and the teacher have been suspended.

A. Akilan, 16, was found dead at his home on Wednesday. According to a complaint filed by his mother, Kausalyadevi, teacher Vijayakumar had asked students about their beef consumption while collecting names for a scholarship scheme about a month earlier.

The complaint alleges that the teacher made five students, including Akilan, stand up in class and subjected them to caste-based abuse. Two classmates also allegedly subjected Akilan and other students to repeated caste-based insults. The complaint further alleges that headmaster Arun Kumar failed to take action despite being informed of the harassment.

Akilan’s mother, who works as a domestic worker, found him dead at home when she returned from work on Wednesday. Police registered a case against the teacher, the headmaster and the two students under provisions relating to abetment of suicide and voluntarily causing hurt, along with the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act.

The teacher was arrested on Thursday, October 22, while the two classmates were arrested on Friday, October 23. The students were subsequently sent to a juvenile observation home.