Forty-nine days and several protests later, the student agitation at Nehru College of Engineering and Research Centre in Thrissur over the death of a student drew to a close on Wednesday.
The management has reportedly dismissed five college officials accused in the suicide of first-year student Jishnu Pranoy. This after the district collector convened a meeting with Nehru Group Chairman P Krishnadas and representatives from various student political parties.
Reports say that the student unions agreed to withdraw the agitation after the management consented to dismiss the college officials.
Those dismissed include Vice-Principal V Sakthivel, PRO Samjith, and teachers Praveen, Govindankutty and Irshad. The management had earlier suspended Sakthivel, Samjith and Praveen on January 12, after protests broke out. Following this, the police booked Sakthivel, Praveen and Samjith on charges of abetment of suicide.
Speaking to The News Minute, Russil Raj, Thrissur district secretary of SFI said, "We have now agreed to withdraw the strike based on the assurances given by the management. However, we will watch the functioning of the college keenly. We do not want them to bring back the 'torture room' again."
The student bodies had earlier demanded that Chairman Krishnadas step down from the post. His brother Krishna Kumar reportedly assumed charge on Wednesday.
Responding to the latest development, Jishnu's family told TNM from Nadapuram in Kozhikode, expressed satisfaction that both their demands have been met.
"From the very beginning, we have been demanding that the accused authorities be dismissed and that criminal charges be slapped on them. We are now content that both these demands have been met. However, this is not the end. We want them behind the bars," a relative said.
On January 6, 18-year-old Jishnu was found hanging in his hostel room, hours after he was allegedly caught cheating in a semester examination.