Thiruvananthapuram: A statewide hartal called by Dalit organisations in Kerala has disrupted life, with activists blocking vehicle movement in many areas. The protest is demanding justice in the death of Nithin Raj, a dental college student who died after falling from a building on April 10.
The police have registered a case against two faculty members on charges of abetment of suicide and under the SC/ST Act, following allegations by the student's family of caste- and complexion-based harassment.
Kerala Pinnokka Samudaya Munnani, one of the organisations supporting the hartal, has alleged that the police investigation is being deliberately misdirected and delayed.
The organisation has demanded that the case be handed over to an independent agency at the earliest, citing a lack of confidence in the present police investigation.
