Tension prevailed on Avinashi Road near Kaniyur when students of a private engineering college staged a road roko condemning the college management for driving two students to attempt suicide.

R.M. Angunathan, a relative of M. Gurusingaram, one of the students who attempted suicide, said that Gurusingaram from Madurai and M. Sakthivel from Kodaikanal are Final Year students of Civil Engineering at the Park College of Technology in Kaniyur. They were reportedly scolded and beaten by Srikanth, the Administrative Officer of the College, after they were found to lagging in attendance percentage. Srikanth had also reportedly stopped them from entering the examination centre.

Frustrated by this, the students had consumed poison on October 12 and were rushed to a private hospital near Sitra. While the condition of Sakthivel has improved, Gurusingaram continues to remain critical and is being treated in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU).

Angunathan alleged that the college administration had refused to take actions against the staff. “The administration even refused to allow into the exam hall the students who supported us,” he said.

In support of both the students, hundreds of students stormed the Avinashi Road and staged a road roko demanding that the management take severe action against AO Srikanth, bear the hospital expenses of both the students, and to allow the protesting students to write their exams. The students were later pacified by the police and the Panchayat administration officials who reached the spot. The officials also assured that all their demands will be met.