Express News Service By

PALAKKAD: The CPM, which was vocal in the Rohith Vemula issue, now finds itself in a tight spot as political adversaries have raked up the ‘caste’ tag in the case of the humiliation suffered by outgoing principal of Palakkad Government Victoria College, Dr T N Sarasu, on her retirement day.

Principal Sarasu, in her complaint at the Palakkad North police station on April 2, had named at least six SFI students for creating a tomb (grave) in mud and strewing flowers and placing a wreath on it on the premises of the college on her retirement day of March 31, 2016.

Sarasu told ‘Express’ on Wednesday that it was a section of students belonging to the SFI and the members of the All-Kerala Government College Teachers Association (AKGCTA) who were responsible for creating the tomb and belittling her.

She said that one of the students also burst crackers at 5 pm to mark her departure.

Sarasu said that a large number of restrictions had been imposed by the government in colleges in the aftermath of the accident at the College of Engineering, Thiruvananthapuram.

She said that she had been a faculty for 26 years and a principal for eight months. “Some of my actions might have brought displeasure to certain teachers and students,” she said.

The Palakkad North police said that they had registered an FIR under sections 143, 147 and 500 R/W 149 of the Indian Penal Code on the members of the Left-affiliated teachers and students’ organisations of the college in connection with the incident.

Superintendent of Police Debesh Kumar Behera, when contacted, said that no arrests had been made and it needed to be verified whether the names mentioned in the complaint were actually involved in the incident.

Meanwhile, the Government Victoria College unit of the SFI, represented by college union chairman Anand Jayan, has denied the role of the SFI in the incident.