The death of 20-year-old Sradha Satheesh, a student of Amal Jyothi College of Engineering on Friday, June 2, not only sparked a massive protest within the college campus but also brought to the fore the harassment faced by the students in the educational institution. It ranged from moral policing, slut-shaming and videographing of women students in the college without their consent in the name of ensuring discipline. Sradha’s death has now led to these issues faced by students of Amal Jyothi College of Engineering being spoken about.
The way the college management, run by the Catholic Diocese of Kanjirapally, responded to her death is what sparked the protest. On Friday night, the college management had sent an email to the students saying that Saturday would be a holiday but the scheduled university examinations will be conducted. “Even if there is a natural death, people will condole it immediately and inform everyone. This is an unnatural death and how can they not even acknowledge that?,” asked John (name changed).
If the death by suicide and their response to it revealed the disturbing nature of the institution’s behaviour, the protests witnessed students being manhandled by the police, locked up inside hostels by the college and being targeted by the staff members based on their religion. “There were food technology seniors who were part of the protest inside college, and they were wearing scarves. And based on their religion, a faculty, who is teaching physical education said that everyone in the front is wearing scarves,” said Fathima (name changed), a student. According to her, the remark was an attempt to give a religious colour to the protest by students and was provocative. “It became violent at that point,” she said.
“There have been multiple instances of harassment, and many students have faced it. The death of Sraddha brought the issue to the fore and that is how this became a protest,” said Hari, a student. Gildas, another student, said though they all faced harassment in some way, none of them knew what to do or how to react. The death served as the tipping point of the pressure exerted on the students by way of constant vigil and harassment under the guise of disciplining them.
“If girls and boys are found together, talking or working, the manager will come and take videos of the girls, and confiscate their ID cards. Their parents will also be informed of what happened and it will be made into a huge issue,” Hari said. They also alleged that the college authorities would often exaggerate these incidents while informing the parents. Gildas said he and his friend were suspended for talking to women students and subsequently labelled us ‘villains’ and accused of using and distributing drugs in college. “However, no inquiry was conducted in the matter”, he says.
A woman student of the college, who wanted to remain anonymous, said that when the manager spots girls and boys together, they will not even be asked for an explanation or allowed to talk. A normal conversation they have with people of the opposite sex would be blown up and given sexual overtones. Hari said that the manager had acknowledged during the mediation meeting that warden Sr Maya behaves badly with women students in the hostel and that there were multiple complaints raised by the students.
“Once they confiscate our phone, it will go to HOD’s hand and they will not give it back. They will call us and keep scolding us, and their language is abusive. They take our internal marks and scold us by invoking personal details. Though some teachers and sisters support us, they cannot raise their voice as it is run by a private management and are fearful of consequences,” said Fathima.
The college management, in the past, has also exhibited a queerphobic and sexist attitude, the students alleged. An email sent to the students in 2021 under-signed by the college principal Dr ZV Lakaparambil, stated that some “boy students grow long hair like girls” and a few girl students had “shown a rough attitude” to their juniors. It also said: “I have come across a case in my earlier career wherein a boy who had the hair attire like ladies after marriage had some adaptability problem the psychiatrist commended that ‘he has not gained the mental self confidence on his gender and it is too late to correct’”.
“The management has a set of moral beliefs and they want us to do things according to what they deem right. The rules and regulations are put in place expecting us to live like robots,” Fathima said. They even go to the extent that students get reprimanded for laughing.
“We can’t laugh after 8.30pm. We can’t make calls after 8.30pm even if it is an emergency. We have to write an apology letter for everything, for laughing, for bathing, for sneezing. All the silence in that huge hostel is for Sr Maya [warden of the women's hostel]. Now everyone is telling us that we got diverted from Sradha’s case. But that is not true. This is the only chance that we got to raise our complaints. And I am sure that we will not get another chance like this,” said Lakshmi (name changed).
“We wanted to point out these issues and talk about them for a long time. But this is an unbearable incident and we couldn’t tolerate it. This is not how these things should have been told, but we were worried about our future and our families and remained silent. But when Sradha died, we felt that she did not get justice. The things that she faced and those responsible for it should be brought before the law, and that is the reason why we started protesting,” says John (name changed).
John also recalls an incident sometime ago, where a security guard beat and killed a dog inside the college campus. “There were many friendly dogs inside the college campus, and we used to feed them. One dog entered inside the college department, and we saw it being beaten. Later that day we found it dead, and they said that it fell down and died. The reason they gave was that the dogs might bite us, but they need not have killed it. This is the same way they behave with us,” he adds.
Amal Jyothi also has two ‘skywalks’, bridges connecting the college building to hostels. The longer one, leading to the girls’ hostel, can be accessed only by girls, and the one to the boys’ hostel only by boys. Though there are other paths, the college insists that students use only the bridges.
The bridge to women's hostel (Facebook/Amal Jyothi College of Engineering)
Albin, a second year student, said there is a student council in the college, which is not elected by the students. “We can neither say that management selects them nor that we elect them. Teachers will select some students, ask other students their opinions and choose students according to their preference. These students will be supporting the management, and it seems like we don’t have a voice. The student council does not come forward even if something happens. Till now, they haven’t spoken to us. When we ask them, they ask us to support the management as it is their support that we need,” he says.
On the mediation meeting held on Wednesday, headed by Minister of Higher Education R Bindu, Minister for Cooperation and Registration MN Vasavan, and Kerala Congress (M) Chief Whip N Jayaraj, with the college management, members of the PTA, as well as students, one of the primary demands of the students was the need of a student union body elected solely by them with no interference from the management. They also demanded that no action be taken against the protesting students, which was assured by the ministers. However, students are sceptical about the promise.
“There was a protest video of yesterday in which my friend was seen. This afternoon, the hostel warden questioned him about that. He was threatened and said that he might get beaten up by the police,” said a student. Lakshmi said that the management has a mocking attitude towards the students and they are worried about the consequences of the protests.
If you are aware of anyone facing mental health issues or feeling suicidal, please provide help. Here are some helpline numbers of suicide-prevention organisations that can offer emotional support to individuals and families.
Tamil Nadu
State health department's suicide helpline: 104
Sneha Suicide Prevention Centre - 044-24640050 (listed as the sole suicide prevention helpline in Tamil Nadu)
Andhra Pradesh
Life Suicide Prevention: 78930 78930
Roshni: 9166202000, 9127848584
Karnataka
Sahai (24-hour): 080 65000111, 080 65000222
Kerala
Maithri: 0484 2540530
Chaithram: 0484 2361161
Both are 24-hour helpline numbers.
Telangana
State government's suicide prevention (tollfree): 104
Roshni: 040 66202000, 6620200
SEVA: 09441778290, 040 27504682 (between 9 am and 7 pm
Aasara offers support to individuals and families during an emotional crisis, for those dealing with mental health issues and suicidal ideation, and to those undergoing trauma after the suicide of a loved one.
24x7 Helpline: 9820466726
Click here for working helplines across India.