Students of the Annamalai University in Chidambararam, north Tamil Nadu, went on a midnight rampage last night demanding action against two invigilators for allegedly ‘humiliating’ a third year B Tech student hailing from Chandigarh which led to her committing suicide in her hostel room on March 26. The rampage forced authorities to close down the University for 15 days.Students have accused the two male invigilators of frisking Chetna Ramachandran, a third year student in Electronics and Instrumentation, accusing her of hiding ‘bits (with subject notes)’ on herself during a model lab examination on March 26 morning.Chetna, said to be a ‘brilliant student’, went to her hostel room around 4 pm and hung herself from the ceiling fan using her dupatta. Her body was discovered by her roommate’s friend at about 5 pm.There was tension in the campus after Chetna’s parents arrived yesterday and took charge of their daughter’s body after the post mortem. Her father Ramachandran, from Tamil Nadu, is a senior officer in Chandigarh’s BSNL office, and her mother is from Punjab. Chetna was cremated in Chidambaram. Around midnight last night hostel students of the Arts and Science broke window panes and damaged computers and electrical materials, said the staff at the University. The University had recently hosted the 94th Indian Science Congress.“The student committed suicide because she felt humiliated when she was caught copying by the invigilators. They used another female student to frisk her. There is no truth to the rumours that the invigilators had frisked the girl,” the Annamalai University PRO, S Selvam, told The Indian Express. He said hostel students had been asked to leave and return after 15 days. The semester exams are scheduled for May 8.Meanwhile, protesting students allege that Chetna was a very good student and there was no need for her to cheat in the exam. They have accused the two male lecturers of taking her to an adjoining room and frisking her.Annamalai Nagar Inspector of Police, Nagaraj, said except a case of suicide by Chetna no cases had been registered against students or members of the faculty.
