Ajith Kumar (21) was studying second year B.E civil engineering in St.Joseph college of engineering, Pennalur village, Kanchipuram dist. He was the youngest son of Gnanamani (56) a daily wage laborer from Allur village, Sethiyathopu post, Cuddalore district. Ajith was staying in the St.Zavier men’s hostel inside the college campus. He was 200 kms away near Chennai from his native village.
On 1.3.16 Ajith’s father Gnanamani received a phone call from the college management who complained about his son and asked him to take his son from the college. The next day Gnanamani visited the college along with his elder son Gunasekaran. The college management comprising the principal and two college administrators discussed the issue with them and asked to take Ajith out of college or pay a fine of Rs.5000. Initially Gnanamani protested that an investigation shouldn’t be done without his son present in the room. Later he accepted to pay the fine and asked for a week’s time since he couldn’t get the money immediately.
On the same day Gnanamani met his son Ajith in the hostel and enquired the complaint on him. Ajith informed that he haven’t done anything wrong and punished just for questioning the quality of food in hostel mess with the management. The father advised his son that these issues with food are normal in hostels and he need to adapt to them.
After few days Gnanamani received a call from his son Ajith, who said that he is afraid and the college management mainly administrator Fr. Jude are abusing him verbally in the classroom. Fr. Jude told Ajith ‘You Paraiyars are useless. You dogs are studying free of cost. Even if you get free education you still complain about rice and sambar? You should get lost and die’. Gnanamani asked his son to come home and he too responded positively. This whole abuse happened in front of the students inside the classroom and it was happening daily since his father visited the college. Fr. Jude is said to be always inspecting the hostel rooms, beating the students with mobile or laptop charger during those visits, abuse students verbally in classrooms and hostels.
On Feb 10 Vinoth Kumar, a computer science student was suspended by the college management. Vinoth was dragged out of the hostel and beaten up by Fr. Jude before sending him out for suspension. The other students were concerned and tried to report these violent behavior of Fr. Jude to the principal. When Fr. Jude found them standing outside principal’s office they were immediately suspended for 15 days. Ajith Kumar was one among the nine got suspended. Everyone was thrown out of the college & hostel. Ajith spent his suspension at home and came back. Initially he was denied entry into hostel and the casteist abuses started from that time.
Dr. B. R. Ambedkar's Caravan 