Two final year civil engineering students of a private engineering college near Kaniyur, were hospitalised after they reportedly attempted suicide by consuming poison in the late hours of Monday. The incident came to light after their relatives and other students blocked the Avanashi Road at Chennimalai Andavar Koil near Karumathampatty on Thursday. It is learnt that the students, M. Gurusingaram (23) of Sivagangai District and his classmate M. Sakthivel (22) ran short of college class attendance and also absented themselves from taking the internal examinations. Relatives of Gurusingaram said that the boys went late to college on Monday, when a senior member of the administrative staff reportedly beat them in front of other students.
Humiliated by the incident, the two students consumed poison in the room they stayed outside the campus. They were admitted in a private hospital and were under treatment. It is said that both of them were out of danger but undergoing treatment at the hospital. This incident triggered protests by students who blocked the highway for more than an hour.
Coimbatore District Police pacified the protestors. The college management conducted talks with the protestors. Relatives of the boys said that they have asked the college to bear the treatment expenses, among other demands. The college principal said that after several rounds of talks that went on till the late hours of the day, the college assured to bear the medical expenses of the students and to transfer the members of the staff against whom the allegation was made. The college would also be conducting a parents and management meeting next week to set right the issue.
