Coimbatore police on Friday arrested two classmates of the 16-year-old Class 11 student of a government-aided school in Peelamedu who died at his home on Wednesday, a senior police officer said. The two students, who are minors and are not being named, were produced before the Juvenile Justice Board and lodged in an observation home for juveniles at Papanaickenpalayam in the city.

Source: The Hindu

The officer said the two were arrested after investigations revealed they had subjected the student to caste-based harassment. Women police personnel collected statements from the student's classmates and the teaching staff. Awaaz Punjab is not naming the deceased student, who was a minor. An arrest is not a finding of guilt.

This is a developing update to our earlier report on the Peelamedu case, in which police booked four persons and arrested the teacher. Read the earlier report

Suspensions and Collectorate protest

The secretary of the government-aided school placed the headmaster, Arunkumar S., and the teacher, P. Vijayakumar, under suspension on Thursday. The management said the action was taken after it learned of the alleged use of caste-related remarks at the workplace, and that the two were suspended to facilitate a fair and impartial inquiry, according to the suspension orders cited by The Hindu.

On Friday, the student's parents and relatives, joined by members of the DMK, CPI(M), May 17 Movement, Samooga Neethi Katchi and other organisations, gathered at the Coimbatore Collectorate demanding the arrest of all persons accused of harassing the student. They met District Collector Pavankumar G. Giriyappanavar and submitted a petition. ANI reported that more than 100 people joined the protest, which also demanded cancellation of the school's recognition.

Source: ANI via LatestLY

What is alleged, and what happens next

Police said the student left no note. Further investigation is under way into the allegations levelled by the student's mother against the teacher and the headmaster. In her complaint, the mother alleged that about two months ago the teacher made her son and four other students who eat beef stand up in the classroom, and that the two arrested classmates had been harassing him since then while the headmaster took no action. These remain allegations under investigation; the school and the accused have not publicly responded to the new developments.

Peelamedu police had on Wednesday night booked the two students, the teacher and the headmaster under Sections 115(2) and 108 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and Section 3(2)(v) of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, and the teacher was arrested on Thursday, as reported earlier.