Kallakurichi: Violence broke out on Sunday in Tamil Nadu as angry protestors torched buses and police vehicles over the suicide of a girl student in a private residential school in Chinnasalem, PTI reported. The mob went on a rampage setting fire to vehicles and indulging in stone pelting, in which police personnel also became the target. In retaliation, the Tamil Nadu police opened fire in the air and Chief Minister MK Stalin urged the protestors to maintain peace. The government has also assured that stringent action will be taken against the guilty. A 17-year-old girl, studying Class 12 in a private residential school in Chinnasalem, about 15 km from here was found dead on July 13 in the hostel premises.


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Stalin tweeted saying he has directed top officials to rush to Kallakurichi. The agitators, pushing down barricades put up by the police, stormed the premises of an 'international' school at nearby Chinnasalem and set buses parked inside the institution's premises on fire, police said.



Protesters vandalised school


Several protesters managed to reach the terrace and vandalised the school name board and held high banners seeking justice for the dead girl.


Outnumbered for a while, the best efforts of police to disperse the protesters proved futile. Police personnel from nearby districts have begun arriving here as part of measures to tackle the situation.


A chunk of agitators had a free run and indulged in vandalism inside the school premises. Some of them took away things like furniture and almirah from the school, damaged them and set them on fire on the road.


 As a result of the violence, which began as a 'road blockade protest' on Sunday, led to traffic disruptions on the arterial Chennai-Salem highway.


Suicide note found


A 17-year-old girl, studying Class 12 in a private residential school in Chinnasalem, about 15 km from here was found dead on July 13 on the hostel premises. The girl, an inmate of a room on the third floor of the hostel was suspected to have ended her life by jumping to the ground from the top floor.


According to ANI, a suicide note was found in her room, in which the deceased alleged that she was being tortured and pressurised by two teachers to study all the time.


A postmortem report reportedly indicated that she had sustained injuries before her death.


Police registered a case and a probe is on. Shocked by her death, her parents, relatives and people belonging to her village Periyanasalur, off Veppur in the Cuddalore district have been staging non-stop protests seeking justice.