‘Complacency’ among Kallakurichi administration viewed as a factor behind Sunday’s violence

‘The local authorities did not anticipate the kind of mobilisation of people that had taken place’

A certain element of “complacency” among the Kallakurichi district administration is viewed by the State administration as a factor behind the scale of the violence witnessed on Sunday on the premises of a private school at Kaniyamoor near Chinnasalem in Kallakurichi district following the death of a Class XII girl. [The Collector and the Superintendent of Police have since been transferred.]

The feeling could have arisen due to the district authorities’ engagement with the parents of the deceased and the students’ associations for a couple of days prior to the events on Sunday, according to top official sources. In fact, when the demand for a second postmortem was made, it was the district administration that advised the parents and others to approach the Madras High Court.

Acknowledging that the local authorities did not anticipate the kind of mobilisation of people that had taken place, the sources conceded that in the forenoon, the size of the police force was ‘outnumbered’ by the protesters. However, as the police did not take any strong action, the violence was confined to the campus of the school. Otherwise, there would have been greater violence, leading to large-scale destruction of public property.

As for the profile of the protesters, the sources indicated that beyond a “small group” of relatives and friends of the girl and villagers, a number of people had travelled for about 50 km on two-wheelers to indulge in the violence. The ‘purpose’ of this kind of “large mobilisation” of the people had to be “looked into”.

Also, the way in which social media had been used had to be studied closely. The government will do everything to ensure that no one else felt emboldened to resort to violence, the sources added.