A protest by a group of students from the College of Engineering (CET) here against an act of moral policing was trending on social media.
At a bus shed near the college, someone had cut up a long bench into three single seats in order to avoid girls and boys sitting together. To protest this vandalism, under the pretext of moral policing, a group of CET students—both boys and girls—posed for a picture at the shed, with the girls sitting on boys’ laps and then posted it on social media.
The picture became instantly popular, with prominent personalities hailing the students for their protest.
Mayor Arya Rajendran visited the spot on Thursday and assured the students that a gender-neutral waiting shed would be constructed there. Rajendran, who had made headlines a couple of years ago by becoming one of the youngest mayors in the country, also appreciated the students for responding innovatively against moral policing.
Sharing the photographs of the students’ protest, Congress leader and former MLA K S Sabarinadhan said in a social media post that nothing happened when boys and girls sat together. He also said that he was proud of being an alumnus of CET, which is one of the premier engineering colleges in the state.
Police sources said the bus waiting shed, where the bench was cut up, was set up by a local residents’ association. Since there were no complaints regarding the vandalism, no case was registered.