Caste-based abuse at Karyavattom campus: Sanskrit Department Head files bail plea, court to hear complainant's version

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The court has decided to hear the version of complainant Vipin Vijayan in the caste abuse case involving C N Vijayakumari, Head of the Sanskrit Department at Kerala University. Vipin has been directed to appear before the court on December 5. The case is being considered by the Nedumangad SC/ST Court.

Vijayakumari has argued that she never made any casteist remarks and only pointed out that Vipin’s thesis lacked the required academic standards to be approved. In her bail plea, she claimed that the case was motivated by personal grudges, academic disagreements, and political reasons. The High Court has already stayed her arrest.

The Sreekaryam Police had registered a case against Vijayakumari under the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act based on the complaint filed by research student and SFI worker Vipin Vijayan. Vipin had complained that after his open defence, Vijayakumari submitted a report to the University Vice-Chancellor pointing out shortcomings in his thesis, which delayed his PhD degree.

In his complaint, Vipin also stated that when he was an MPhil student at the Karyavattom campus, Vijayakumari, who was his guide, used to insult him using casteist remarks. He alleged that she said people from the Pulaya community should not study Sanskrit and that the presence of Pulaya and Paraiyar students had lowered the prestige of the Sanskrit Department.