2 more students end life after board results, 5 suicides so far in Jharkhand

Sanjiv Kumar, officer-in-charge of Murhu police station, said that according to the girl’s parents, she was depressed after the results were announced

Two more students in Jharkhand have ended life after the announcement of results for secondary and senior secondary examinations by the CBSE and Jharkhand Academic Council (JAC), pushing up the number of suicide cases among students post-results to five.

Two more students in Jharkhand have ended their lives, pushing up the number of suicide cases among students post-results to five (HT File/Representative Image)

On Saturday, a girl student of a government school in Khunti district hanged herself. She had failed to secure passing marks in the recently announced matriculation results by Jharkhand Academic Council. Her parents work as daily wage workers.

Sanjiv Kumar, officer-in-charge of Murhu police station, said that according to the girl’s parents, she was depressed after the results were announced.

The same day, a 16-year-old boy hanged himself near Ranchi. Police said he had failed twice in a row in the matriculation exams. Parents of the boy were not at their residence on Saturday afternoon, police said.

Earlier, on May 10, a 17-year-old school student jumped off the eighth floor of a shopping mall on Harmu Road. Although the student was declared to have secured overall pass marks in the exams, she was said to be distressed because of securing only 12 marks in mathematics.

The state does not have a functional suicide prevention helpline number. Ranchi’s senior superintendent of police, Anish Gupta, said students in distress could call on emergency number 100. “Trained personnel with requisite skills were deputed on the number to provide counselling to students suffering from depression or extreme tension due to results. Apart from this, the officer-in-charge of police stations were sensitized to deal with such cases,” he said.