A 16-year-old girl allegedly attempted to commit suicide after facing "sexual harassment" from a lecturer at a junior college at Vamanjoor near Mangalore, triggering protests on Tuesday.

The lecturer at the St Raymond's College here had been allegedly harassing the girl for the past one year by sending her lewd text messages and trying to make advances at her, police said.

The girl was very reluctant to inform her family members about the harassment and the issue came to the notice of the parents yesterday when the girl attempted suicide, they said. She tried to hang herself, but her parents foiled it, police said.

Her family learned the details about the harassment from her after the suicide attempt, police said, adding, her parents immediately filed complaint with the Kankanady rural police station. The lecturer is absconding. The college authorities said a committee would be set up to enquire the allegations against the lecturer.

Police officials including DCP (Crime) K V Jagdish held talks with the college management and instructed them to take steps to check any such incident in future. Kankanady police have registered a case under Protection of Children Against Sexual Offences Act.

Meanwhile, thousands of students from colleges across the city staged a protest on Tuesday before the office of the deputy commissioner against the recurring crimes against women and children in the state and urged the government to take stringent action against the culprits.