Chided by sister for bunking school, Class 9 student sets himself afire

The 14-year-old boy of Mayurbhanj’s Gopabandhu Nagar block was rushed to the Pandit Raghunath Murmu government medical college and hospital in Baripada this morning with 90% burn injuries.

A Class IX tribal boy in Mayurbhanj district succumbed to his burn injuries this afternoon after he reportedly set himself on fire minutes after his elder sister chided him for bunking school.

The upset boy had an altercation with his 18-year-old sister and locked himself up in a room and doused himself with kerosene before lighting a matchstick. (File photo for representation)

The 14-year-old boy of Mayurbhanj’s Gopabandhu Nagar block was rushed to the Pandit Raghunath Murmu government medical college and hospital in Baripada this morning with 90% burn injuries.

The teenager, a Santhali tribal, did not want to go to school after which his elder sister pulled him up. An upset Marandi then had an altercation with his 18-year-old sister and locked himself up in a room and doused himself with kerosene before lighting a matchstick.

His uncle Purna Chandra Marandi said the incident happened so quickly that no one had any time to react. “His father and mother were in the garden and they rushed in when Kalidas started screaming. We had to break the door to rescue him. But he had suffered 90 per cent burns. It was too late to save him,” said Marandi.

He said the family was not sure if Kalidas was being bullied at school. “We are still shocked over his decision to commit suicide,” he said.