‘Wasn’t allowed to take exam. Sorry mom,’ wrote 14-year-old Hyderabad girl before killing herself

The principal of a Hyderabad school was booked for abetting the suicide of a girl by not allowing her to write an examination for failing to pay the fees, police said.

The principal of a private school in Hyderabad was booked on Friday for abetting the suicide of a 14-year-old Dalit girl, who killed herself after she was allegedly punished and not allowed to write an examination for failing to pay the fees, police said.

Inspector Janaki Reddy said a case has been registered against Lakshmi, the principal of Jyothi High School in Malkajgiri area of the city, the teacher who refused to allow K Sai Deepthi to take the exam and an office clerk under Section 306 (abetment to suicide) of Indian Penal Code and also under Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe (Prevention of Atrocities) Act. (By arrangement)

Inspector Janaki Reddy said a case has been registered against Lakshmi, the principal of Jyothi High School in Malkajgiri area of the city, the teacher who refused to allow K Sai Deepthi to take the exam and an office clerk under Section 306 (abetment to suicide) of Indian Penal Code and also under Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe (Prevention of Atrocities) Act.

“We will arrest them soon,” he said.

Deepthi, a student of Class 9, hanged herself from the ceiling in her house at JLS Nagar on Thursday evening.

“I was not allowed to take the exam. Sorry mom,” Deepthi wrote in a suicide note.

Her elder sister Sai Latha, a student at a private engineering college, told the police that Deepthi was depressed when she came home from the school. She added that Deepthi went into the bedroom and hanged herself.

“She told me that the principal humiliated her in front of her classmates for not paying the school fee and forced to her to stand outside the classroom all through the day,” Latha said.

KS Balakrishna, a painter, said while speaking to reporters the school management refused to allow her to take the unit test that began on Thursday for defaulting on the payment of term fee of Rs 2,000. His wife Sunitha works as a salesperson in a local supermarket.

“Instead of insulting the girl by preventing her from writing the exam, they should have called me. I would have borrowed and paid,” he said.