Nagpur: Caught smoking, student commits suicide

Unable to come to terms with the scolding he got from parents and teachers for smoking, a 17-year-old school boy committed suicide in Nagpur on Thursday, Pradip Kumar Maitra reports.

Unable to come to terms with the scolding he got from parents and teachers for smoking, a 17-year-old school boy committed suicide in Nagpur on Thursday.

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According to information available, Akshay Lokhande (17), a student of Std XII at Dinanath High School and Junior College, was caught smoking along with his friends by his college lecturer Anjali Vadatkar, on the school premises on Tuesday.

She immediately informed the principal about it.

Principal Bhavani Sen, Vadatkar and another lecturer Roshan Nasre scolded him and summoned Akshay’s parents.

His mother, Julie rushed to the school and reprimanded Akshay when the teachers narrated her the entire story.

The same day, Vadatkar was intercepted by a group of masked boys, reportedly Akshay friends when she was heading home.

"They threatened me with dire consequences if the school initiated action against them," Vadatkar said.

However, she only shared this incident with the school authorities and did not lodge a police complaint.

Akshay’s father, Sudarshan said his son was very depressed after the incident and especially after Vadatkar insulted Akshay in front of his mother and other in the school.

It is learnt that the school authorities told Akshay’s parents not to send him to the school for a few days as a punishment.

Akshay left the house on Thursday evening and jumped to death into a well near his residence in Ajni area.

No suicide note was found. However, Sudarshan and Julie alleged that Akshay took the extreme step as he was depressed on being suspended from the school for few days.

Anupama Gadkari, a city-based psychologist, best known for her work among teenagers, felt that now-a-days most teenagers of middle class families have become rebels and tolerance has come down.

“There should a be mandate to recruit a child psychologist in every school to avoid such situation,” she suggested.

Sudarshan has lodged a complaint with the local police against the school principal and the lecturer for abetting his son’s suicide.

Ajni police is probing the matter.