Chennai: A Class 12 student, who suffered head injury in a fight with three of his schoolmates over wearing wrist band (denoting caste), died two days after undergoing a surgery at the Tirunelveli medical college hospital.
Police have arrested three students of Pallakkaal Pothukkudi government higher secondary school near Ambasamudram for murder.
The victim was identified as 17-year-old M Selva Surya, a resident of Pappakudi village in Tirunelveli. He reportedly belonged to a community categorised among the most backward classes in the State.
One of the three accused was a dalit and the other two his friends from a minority community.
Reports said Surya asked a student as to why he was sporting a wrist band.
It led to an altercation between the duo and two other students stepped in to defend their classmate and a fight ensued in the school premises.
In the fight, Surya was assaulted with a brick and he suffered injuries over his left ear and part of his head.
It is said some of the students wear coloured bands to identify their caste though the school education department has issued guidelines against it.