Kerala: Accusing campus politics, girl attempts suicide

A girl has made a suicide attempt in her college campus in Thiruvananthapuram accusing the college union of forcing her to political activities and not allowing to study.

The incident took place at University College in Thiruvananthapuram, a decades-old prestigious institution.

Meanwhile, in a statement given to the police on Saturday, the girl maintained that she wrote the letter accusing the college union activists owing to the mental condition and she did not want to proceed with any complaint against anyone in this connection.

The first-year degree student, reported missing since Thursday, was found unconscious in a waiting room in the college on Friday morning with her wrist nerve severed. A note recovered by the police from her revealed that she was under stress from the Students Federation of India (SFI) led college union.

Even as the SFI denied any sort of pressure on her, the incident could trigger fresh discussions on banning politics in college campuses.

The condition of the girl was stable by Saturday morning and the police would be recording here statement in detail. Based on her statement further steps would be taken against any SFI activists, police sources said.

University College situated in the heart of Thiruvananthapuram city has been a stronghold of SFI over these years. There used to be even allegations that SFI cadres would not allow any other political parties to function in the campus.

According to sources, the girl said in the note that some college union leaders were forcing her to participate in the union's programmes during the class hours and hence she could not study properly. She was also learnt to have shared this concern with some of her classmates and wanted to resist such acts by the college union. But most students feared of hostile measures by the union activists.

Meanwhile, SFI Kerala state secretary Sachin Dev told DH that there were no such issues at the college. "I had enquired about the incident. There was no pressure on any students to take part in union activities. Moreover, now it is vacation time at the college and hence no union activities used to take place these days," he said.

Despite restrictions imposed by High Court several times earlier, campus politics with the backing of mainstream political parties continues in Kerala college campuses. The brutal killing of a college student in Kochi last year over campus political rivalries had also triggered demands to strictly ban politics in campuses.