Thiruvananthapuram | The Kerala child rights panel on Monday registered a case on its own against CPI(M) leader K T Jaleel over his alleged public humiliation of students during a felicitation function in Palakkad.

A former teacher, Jaleel had served as Higher Education Minister in the first Pinarayi Vijayan government.

According to a statement issued by the State Commission for Protection of Child Rights, the action was initiated based on visuals aired by television channels.

In the visuals, Jaleel was seen asking students who had secured A-plus grades in the Class 10 examination whether they knew the alphabet during his address.

He also allegedly pulled a student's ear after calling the child onto the stage over an error in writing an address.

The incident occurred during a function organised in Mannarkkad, Palakkad, to felicitate students who had secured top marks from various municipal wards.

The commission said Chairperson K V Manoj Kumar registered the case on its own after taking note of the visuals, observing that the former minister's conduct had allegedly caused mental distress to the children.

Earlier, the Muslim Students Federation demanded legal action against Jaleel, alleging that he had publicly humiliated students and that such behaviour was unacceptable.