Sree Sankaracharya University of Sanskrit (SSUS) Vice-Chancellor Ciza Thomas has alleged that she was hit on her head and her hair pulled while she was leaving the varsity after the Syndicate meeting on August 13, 2026 amid protests led by the Students Federation of India (SFI) to press its various demands.

“I had never faced such a situation in my over three decades of teaching and administrative career. The protesters crossed all limits as they conducted a mock funeral of the Vice-Chancellor on the main campus at Kalady. It was a deeply humiliating and intimidating act directed personally against me,” she told The Hindu on Monday (August 17, 2026).

Tensions had erupted on the campus as the protesters allegedly tried to stop the Vice-Chancellor and the Syndicate members from leaving the campus after the Syndicate meet on the day. The protesters alleged that the authorities had refused to consider their various demands, including appointment of required faculty members and stepping up basic facilities for the students.

Governor Rajendra Vishwanath Arlekar, who is also the Chancellor of State universities, had summoned State Police Chief (SPC) Ravada A. Chandrasekhar to the Lok Bhavan following the incident and directed the latter to initiate stringent action against those involved in the alleged attack on Ms. Thomas.

Alleging that members of the Syndicate and her personal staff were pushed and subjected to physical force and intimidation by the protesters, Ms. Thomas said the situation had gone out of control as they were surrounded by persons, who had obstructed their movement for over 45 minutes. In her complaint submitted to the Chancellor, she requested that the complete video recordings of the incident have to secured and preserved for investigation.

The protesting students have, however, denied the allegations, claiming that they had only staged “a symbolic protest” to highlight their 18-point charter of demands that included the appointment of required faculty members and implementation of basic facilities for students across various departments.

The students have been on an indefinite strike for the last 29 days.

They said the agitation would be stepped up if the authorities failed to accept their demands.

Terming the alleged mock funeral of the Vice-Chancellor as “unfortunate”, Home Minister Ramesh Chennithala said on Monday that stringent action would be taken against those involved in the incident. “Such acts are not appropriate for a civilised society and it cannot be accepted. It is a serious incident and the police will act tough,” he said.

The Kalady police had arrested four activists of the SFI on Sunday in connection with the alleged mock funeral protest. Their arrests were recorded in two separate cases registered in connection with the incident.

M. Sivaprasad, State president of the SFI, has alleged that the Home Department was “playing to the script penned by the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh” by taking action against the student protesters. He alleged that the police, which lodged a first information report stating that a protest was held on the campus on Thursday, later “changed it” to an attack on the Vice-Chancellor by the agitators as part of “this cover-up.”