Tamil Nadu: 4 Girls Expelled From College For Consuming Alcohol; NCW Takes Note

The National Commission for Women (NCW) issued a notice to Dharmapuram Adhinam Arts College in Nagapattinam district in Tamil Nadu on Monday, January 13, for expelling four girls for consuming alcohol during a birthday party.

Although the incident happened in November 2019, the college expelled the girls in January this year after a video of girls consuming alcohol went viral. Three of the girls were seen in college uniforms in the video.

The action comes after the All India Private Colleges Employees Union (AIPCEU) filed a complained with NCW. In a letter to the commission K M Karthik, founder of AIPCEU and the complainant, said that the girls were expelled "without prior warning, and without resorting to corrective measures and alternate punishments appropriate to the actions of the students".

Chronology Of Events

One of the family members of the girls had allegedly shot the video while they were at the party and released on social media without their consent.

In the video, the four girls - three of them in school uniform and one in a casual outfit - can be seen consuming alcohol.

As soon as the video went viral on social media, people began questioning the girls' morality. A Facebook user posted the video with the caption "The state of women". According to the circular issued by the college, the students were expelled for "behaving in a manner that would bring disrepute to college".

According to The News Minute, the college claims to have expelled the students to follow rules that would instil values in students and set a precedent for others.

Following the expulsion, AIPCEU chief K M Karthik sent a letter to the college, and the university that the college is affiliated to that "public shaming, moral policing, character assassination of young girls cannot be done in the name of punishment for beer consumption". He urged the college to engage in proportional and lawful punishment only.

When the college failed to respond, Karthik wrote to the NCW.

The Principal of the college acknowledged the receipt of the notice but maintained that the punishment was fair. He further said that Karthik's letter made it seem like it was "okay for women to consume alcohol".

"We have taken steps to ensure that their lives are not affected. Two of them reached out to us, and so we gave them counselling. They have been transferred for correspondence courses now. Their parents thanked us," the principal said.

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