A government college in Coimbatore suspended a law student on Friday for “inciting gender and religious hatred among students”, after she spoke about the Kathua rape and murder case during an extempore classroom speech session.

While the student, R Priya, said she spoke because the faculty member had completed her lecture and asked students to address the class on a topic of their choice, Government Law College accused her of misbehaving and trying to provoke students to protest against the government, The Hindu reported.

“I spoke about the rape of the girl in Kashmir because it is a huge issue,” Priya told The News Minute. “I said an eight-year-old child was raped for many days inside a temple. The reason for this is not men or the clothes women wear. Even a two-year-old is raped and killed.”

Priya said that as she was speaking, a few students left the class and that she saw an assistant professor talking to them. She said the professor then walked into the classroom and shouted at her for trying to instigate students, after which the college handed her the suspension order.

The principal of the college, Gopalakrishnan, said Priya was part of the Revolutionary Student Front. “She always works against the government and the college management,” he told The News Minute. “She is inciting students to protest against the government. She has the right to participate in social work, but we cannot accept such work inside the college campus.”