When the teacher inspected the student's bag, he found a sickle in it. Later, when the student was interrogated, he said that he carried the sickle because some other students had threatened to kill him.
Published Sep 25, 2024 | 4:23 PM ⚊ Updated Sep 25, 2024 | 4:23 PM
Sickle. Representational Image. (iStock)
In yet another example of the sickle culture in the schools of Tirunelveli district in Tamil Nadu, a student of government-aided Chapter Higher Secondary School in Nellai city was dismissed by the school management on Tuesday, 24 September, after a sickle was found inside his school bag.
Recently, there has been an increased caste-based conflict among school students in the Tirunelveli district. Three years ago, a student named Chinnathurai was hacked by fellow students in Nanguneri in the district.
Following that, there was a clash between the students of schools including Maruthakulam and Valliyur. There are several reports of violent incidents amongst students mostly over caste issues.
A few weeks ago, the now-dismissed class 10 student of a government-aided school in the Thalaiyuthu area of Nellai City was caught by his teachers and handed over to the police after he came to school with a sickle in his bag.
The physical education teacher of the school was informed by a student of another government-aided school in the Sripuram area of Tirunelveli junction that a sickle was there in the dismissed student’s bag.
When the teacher inspected the student’s bag, he found a sickle in it. Later, when the student was interrogated by the authorities, he said that he carried the sickle because some other students had threatened to kill him.
The student, a resident of Kontaan Nagar, told the school authorities that it was for his protection.
Subsequently, the teacher kept the student confined the student in a room at the school. Later, Nellai Junction police arrived there and interrogated the student.
On Tuesday, the headmaster of the school summoned the student’s father and dismissed the student from the school after giving him the Transfer Certificate (TC).
Meanwhile, the headmaster also ordered the suspension of three students who had allegedly threatened to kill the dismissed student.
In a similar incident, on 2 August, a ninth-class student of Kendriya Vidyalaya at Vijayanarayanam in Tirunelveli hacked a classmate after a quarrel over spilt water the previous day. The student was later arrested by the police and produced before the Juvenile Justice Board.
With an increasing number of such cases, social activists have been demanding to create awareness among the students to control the growing sickle culture among school students in the Tirunelveli district.
(Edited by Muhammed Fazil)
