Madras Christian College students protest after Mahima's death, demand sports class be made optional

A day after Mahima Jayaraj, a first-year BSc Chemistry student suddenly collapsed and died after a mandatory sports class, around 2000 students of the Madras Christian College are staging a protest in the college premises. The protesting students are seeking a probe into Mahima's death and are demanding that the college authorities make the 'Sports for All' sessions optional.

Even though the college authorities have declared a holiday and canceled all classes for the day after students started protesting, they haven't addressed the students' issues or made an attempt to meet the students. Mahima collapsed and died on Monday, at around 5 pm after doing the mandatory jogging required in the college’s ‘Sports For All’ initiative. The first year students have to spend at least 120 hours on the field to receive two credits needed for completing their degree. Even though she was rushed to the Christudas Orthopaedic Speciality Hospital in Tambaram, she was declared dead on arrival. 

"All the student bodies gathered around the college's boxing ring, which is right in front of the Principal's quarters at 9 in the morning," says Chandru D, the SFI Chennai District Secretary. An hour after the protest, the Principal issued a notice stating that classes will not be held after 10.20 am in the morning. "If the college grieves Mahima's death, they should have issued this notice yesterday or earlier this morning. Not after the protest," Chandru says. 

Note that: The notice issued by the college

A few students had previously alleged that the college authorities didn't let Mahima abstain from the sports class, even after she complained of uneasiness. "The students now want the sports subject to be made optional like it was a few years ago. It is a two-credit course and many students are yet to clear their semester because of this," Chandru says.

Mahima's parents haven't filed a complaint and haven't requested a postmortem.