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Harassed, humiliated, UP teen jumps to death; school principal and bus driver booked
Fatehpur police identified the arrested driver as Shiv Charan, 58, and the principal of Saraswati Balika Mandir Inter College as Raj Kapoor Singh, who remains at large
An 18-year-old student who jumped from the third storey of her school in Khaga, Fatehpur, on Wednesday died in a hospital on Saturday, prompting police to book the institute’s principal and bus driver for abetment of suicide. The woman had jumped off the building after the she was humiliated by the principal when she approached him to complain about the driver for harassment that fellow students said went on for weeks.
Fatehpur police identified the arrested driver as Shiv Charan, 58, and the principal of Saraswati Balika Mandir Inter College as Raj Kapoor Singh, who remains at large.
Superintendent of Police Dhaval Jaiswal confirmed the student’s death, saying, “Police are altering the FIR and adding a section for abetting suicide. The accused will shortly be arrested.”
The student’s father said in the FIR that she regularly faced harassment from the bus driver. “The driver harassed her regularly and she often couldn’t sit in the bus, which caused her significant distress,” he said.
When she approached the principal to complain, she allegedly met hostility. Instead of addressing her concerns, the principal reportedly assaulted her. She ultimately jumped from the third storey out of humiliation, her father said.
Initial police investigations revealed a verbal altercation between Charan and the student last year. An official said, “Students have told us that Shiv Charan wanted her to get off where other students did, which meant she would have to travel an extra kilometre alone. After that argument, Shiv Charan became increasingly antagonistic towards her.”
The student’s family alleged that the driver often reprimanded her and would leave if she was even a minute late. She faced a 13-kilometre journey to and from her remote village daily. Her complaints to the principal allegedly brought humiliation.
“She was made to stand under the sun for hours; she was rebuked and insulted. It had become routine,” said the student’s father. “When all this became unbearable, I met the principal on Monday, beseeching him to change the driver and telling him about my daughter’s ordeal, but he turned me away as well.”
Police officials admitted the principal had a reputation for being strict and there had been past complaints about his treatment of students. The school has about 2,500 pupils.
“We are also looking into those complaints. Three teams have been formed to arrest the principal,” an official said.
