Kerala BDS student death: Statewide hartal by Dalit, Adivasi groups disrupts life

Scores of Dalit and Adivasi activists took to the streets on Tuesday (April 28, 2026) morning demanding justice in connection with the death of BDS student Nithin Raj at a college at Anjarakandy in Kannur, Kerala, on April 10, allegedly due to caste discrimination in class and staff room interactions with some members of the faculty.

The protesters blocked traffic, disrupted KSRTC and private bus operations, and forced the closure of shops in Kannur, Thiruvananthapuram, and Pathanamthitta districts and other places, leaving scores of commuters in the lurch. They staged sit-ins at bus terminals and blocked autorickshaws, private cars and vans ferrying passengers. Protesters also attempted to disrupt the functioning of nationalised banks in some parts of the State, and demanded that passengers travelling to hospitals show their medical records for free passage.