Jothimurugan, the guest lecturer who stabbed a teacher at Madurai Kamaraj University had allegedly been stalking and worrying the woman he knifed — according to teachers and students at the varsity's Journalism department, the sacked teacher had been frequently visiting S Jenefa, the HOD of the Journalism department, before the stabbing. As a result of this, throughout the day, the faculty at the department were being repeatedly asked one question - Why didn't they complain earlier?
"Therinja paiyan naala vittom (He was a known face so we didn't think that he would do anything wrong and let it go). Never once thought he would do something like this." one of the faculty members said.
Jothimurugan completed his Masters from the Communications department at the University and went back to teach at the department for a year. He then moved to the Journalism department as a guest lecturer. "We are not too sure why he quit that department. But then he came to the Journalism department looking for a job, so he was appointed as a guest lecturer," said a faculty member who did not want to be named.
The Journalism department has only two permanent faculty members, so every year, the faculty appoints a few guest lecturers. The guest lecturers are paid Rs 250 per hour but are not allowed to work for more than Rs 10,000 per month. Jothimurugan was appointed the last academic year but the HOD terminated his services within six months after repeated complaints from students. "The students complained that he never went to class, didn't complete the portions, didn't teach any of the subjects properly. Since the complaints were pouring in, madam (Jenefa) decided to terminate his contract," said the staff member.
But Jothimurugan kept coming back to the department begging Jenefa to give him back his job, "He would keep saying that he would change and go to classes. But the students had already complained that he was bad at his work, so there was no way we could take him back." He also kept requesting the HOD to allow him to pursue his PhD in the department, something she said no to again.
Earlier this year, in May, Jothirmurugan got married and the trips to the department kept increasing. "He would be here all the time asking about the job. Yesterday, he was here again but just two days ago, madam had held two interviews and hired two people. So when he asked her again, she told him to stop coming because there was no position available. But no one expected that he would decide to do something so horrific," the faculty member explained.
Jenefa was alone in her cabin when Jothimurugan arrived, despite being so gravely injured, she made it out of her room and screamed for help. The faculty arrived to find her in a pool of blood.Jothimurugan didn't try to escape. "Everyone keeps asking us why we didn't complain if he had been coming to the University so many times. But we all knew him, as a student and as a lecturer here. So, we just thought he was here as usual. Who would've thought that he would try to kill her?" he questioned.
Some of the news reports suggested that Jothimurugan's wife deserted him because he didn't have a job but the faculty member said that that wasn't true. "I know that he had a lot of family problems but I don't think she left him. She's also a school teacher somewhere. I think the problem was to do with his own family, not his wife," he wagered. For now, hospital authorities have said that she is out of danger. Jothimurugan is in police custody.
