A 13-year-old Class 8 student allegedly died by suicide in Bengaluru's Anekal after she was reportedly fined ₹20 for not completing her homework. Police said the student left behind a purported note in which she detailed the circumstances that she claimed drove her to take the extreme step.
According to police, the student alleged in the note that a teacher punished her for failing to complete her homework and asked her to pay a fine of ₹20. She also claimed that she was threatened with the issuance of a transfer certificate (TC), news agency ANI reported.
In the purported note, the student said the alleged humiliation and "harassment" had left her emotionally distressed, ultimately pushing her to take the extreme step.
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The student's family has accused members of the school's teaching staff of harassing the child and has demanded action against those responsible.
"It seems like the teachers had been torturing her. I don't know their names. She missed school for one day. She didn't tell anyone what she went through at school. She could have told her sister, but I wasn't aware of it," the girl's mother was quoted as saying by NDTV.
{{/usCountry}}"It seems like the teachers had been torturing her. I don't know their names. She missed school for one day. She didn't tell anyone what she went through at school. She could have told her sister, but I wasn't aware of it," the girl's mother was quoted as saying by NDTV.
{{/usCountry}}The Suryanagar police have registered a case of unnatural death and launched an investigation into the allegations. Further investigation is underway.
14,488 student deaths recorded in 2024
The number of student suicides in India climbed to a record high of 14,488 in 2024, marking a 4.3% rise from 13,892 cases in 2023 even as country’s overall suicides declined marginally by 0.4% from 171,418 to 170,746 during the same period, according to the data released by the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) released in May.
While overall suicides in 2024 rose 11.6% over five years, from 153,052 in 2020 and increased 27.8% over the past decade from 133,623 in 2015, student suicides grew at an even sharper pace, rising 15.7% in five years from 12,526 in 2020 and 62.2% over 10 years from 8,934 in 2015.
115,850 students died by suicide in between 2015 and 2024.
The share of student suicides in India’s overall suicide cases also rose over the years.
According to the NCRB report, student suicides accounted for 8.5% of the 170,746 total suicides recorded in 2024, up from 8.1% of 171,418 cases in 2023. The proportion of students suicide stood at 8.2% of 153,052 suicides in 2020 and 6.7% of 1,33,623 cases in 2015.
Discussing suicides can be triggering for some. However, suicides are preventable. A few major suicide prevention helpline numbers in India are 011-23389090 from Sumaitri (Delhi-based) and 044-24640050 from Sneha Foundation (Chennai-based).