Over a couple of months after being accused of assaulting a female student, Jaison Joseph, a fourth-year student, was expelled from Mount Zion Law College in Kadammanitta on Wednesday.
The decision was reached during a meeting of the college governing body, convened in response to a heated protest by Youth Congress workers. Earlier in the day, YC workers, led by Pathanamthitta district president Vijay Induchoodan, staged a march to the college, resulting in violence.
Protesters, angered by a delay in the college authorities taking action against the accused student, also locked up the college’s Principal in-charge. A police team from Aranmula soon reached the spot and broke open the room to release the Principal.
An attempt by the police to disperse the protesters led to a brief clash on the college campus. The college governing body, meeting in the aftermath of the protests, promptly announced a decision to expel the accused student.
Mr. Joseph, an active worker of the Democratic Youth Federation of India in Perunad, is yet to be arrested in the case even after various courts dismissed his petitions seeking anticipatory bail. According to a police complaint, the victim, a third-year student at the college, was assaulted by the accused on December 22.
Although the Aranmula police collected the victim’s statement and filed a case, they have not yet initiated the arrest of the accused. Simultaneously, a couple of cases were lodged against the victim and YC workers for staging a protest against the delay in arrest.
Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee president K. Sudhakaran and Leader of the Opposition V. D. Satheesan, who toured the district the other day, also warned of protests over the continued inaction by the police.
