Family members of Akilan, the Coimbatore schoolboy who died by suicide after alleged caste harassment at his school, received his body on Tuesday after six days of protests and buried his remains at a cemetery in Cheran Ma Nagar. The case was transferred to the CB-CID on Monday, leading Akilan’s parents to consent to a postmortem.
The family had earlier said that its decision to receive the body would depend on action by the government. After the case transfer, Backward Classes Welfare Minister V Sampath Kumar handed over Rs 6 lakh in relief to the family and gave Akilan’s sister a government job appointment order.
The family received the body on Tuesday morning and took it to their house in Peelamedu before transporting it to the cemetery. Social Justice Minister Vanni Arasu visited the residence and paid floral tribute to Akilan’s remains.
Vanni Arasu said that no one linked to the student’s death would be able to evade the CB-CID investigation. He said the government would take steps to remove caste names from schools as part of efforts to curb discrimination. The minister said caste discrimination had persisted in schools for years and that the government intended to address the use of caste identifiers on school premises.
The minister said he visited Akilan’s home on the instructions of Chief Minister C Joseph Vijay. He added that the Backward Classes Welfare Minister had already met the family and that legal procedures were under way. The government’s stated response therefore combines the criminal investigation with an administrative proposal aimed at changing how caste identity is displayed within schools.
Arasu also said he had raised the need to implement the Justice Chandru report in the assembly in connection with caste discrimination on school premises. The report was cited by the minister as part of the government’s broader response to the issue, although the supplied report does not provide details of the proposed implementation process or a timeline for the measures announced.
The CB-CID investigation and the government’s next steps on the use of caste identifiers in schools will determine how the case progresses. The supplied report does not include a detailed account of the allegations, the findings of the postmortem or any response from the school authorities.
