Kerala's Upasana College of Nursing in Kollam's district has reportedly barred its students, primarily girls, from locking their doors while changing their clothes in an effort to stop homosexual activity on the premises.
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Soon after the management's decision, a group of students sat outside the college to protest the move on Friday.
The students allege that the college management has been imposing bizarre rules and fines on them. They said that although the rules, which are allegedly designed to harass those belonging to the lower castes, have been imposed for months, the latest set of regulations in the girls' hostel has tested their patience.
"Girls in the hostel have been instructed not to lock their doors, even while changing clothes. The principal says we are closing rooms to secretly use mobile phones or because we are homosexuals. We have been told to just keep a chair near the door, but we can't close it," Veena V S a fourth-year student told The News Minute.
The students sitting on protest are demanding the resignation of the college principal MP Jessykutty. They say that Jessykutty insults them by using casteist slurs, interferes in their privacy, and imposes unnecessary fines on students.
The college is run by the Upasana Charitable Society, which in turn is run by billionaire businessman Ravi Pillai.
The students have also accused the principal of misconduct, they say that she speaks in a rude manner with the students and their parents, and makes filthy allegations against the students studying in the college. The principal reportedly also played the caste card in dissuading students from the general category from protesting.
"I have seen her doing this to one of my seniors who belongs to a Scheduled Caste. When we complain, she would say that the SC/ST students won't need to face any consequence even if they protest, but students from general category would. She used to dissuade us from protesting," a a second-year student Midhun Madhu said.
Students say that the principal takes personal diaries of students and reads certain portions from them out loud in class. Use of mobile phones are banned on the campus and students are not even allowed to access the internet while using the library.
"They accuse us of using internet to only watch porn," a student said.
