Sullia : Two students of a college in Sullia, 60 km from Mangaluru, have been placed under suspension of two weeks for allegedly being in a relationship despite hailing from different communities.

The suspension comes a week after a 28-year-old youth was stripped and beaten up at the heart of Mangaluru after being found in a car with a colleague from a different religion.

At the college in Sullia, a few days ago, a group of students had submitted a petition to the college principal seeking action against a II-PU student for being in a relationship with a I-PU girl. A large number of students carried out protest on Wednesday evening demanding action. Police had to intervene and disperse the crowd. Students boycotted classes and carried out protests on Thursday.

The Principal of the college in Sullia admitted to have asked the two students to not to come to the college for the next 15 days. He defended the college’s action saying that there was no choice. “We had to do this to bring the situation under-control. The protesting students had disrupted the functioning of the college for the past few days,” the Principal said.

The college principal said the boy was from Sullia while the girl was from Kasaragod. The girl was staying at a relative’s house in Sullia before moving to the hostel about 15 days ago. Though there is no evidence to show that the two were in relationship, the Principal said an internal inquiry revealed SMS’s exchanged between the boy and the girl.

The Principal also met the parents of the boy and girl, who had came to the college on Thursday.