Class 5 student commits suicide over ‘harsh punishment’ by teacher in UP

A class five student of a convent school in Uttar Pradesh’s Gorakhpur took his life by consuming poison after allegedly being punished by a teacher, police said.

The boy, who had consumed poison to end his life on September 15, died at the BRD Medical College on Wednesday.

A suicide note was recovered from the student’s schoolbag in which he reportedly claimed that he had decided to end his life as he was subjected to harsh punishment by the teacher.

Blaming the school administration for the death, angry parents hurled stones at the school building, damaging window panes and vehicles.

The school staff also retaliated before the police reached the site and took control of the situation.

Navneet Prakash, 12, a student of St Anthony Convent School in Railway Dairy Colony, had told his parents that one of his teachers made him stand on a table for three hours over some issue.

In his suicide note addressed to his father Ravi Prakash, Navneet wrote, “Aaj 15-09-17 mera pehla exam tha. Meri class teacher ne mujhe 9.15 tak rulaya, khada rakha isliye kyunki woh chaapluson ki baat maanti hai (Today, September 15, it was my first examination. My class teacher harassed me and kept me standing. I cried till 9.15 am. She punished me as she always listen to sycophants).”

Navneet asked his father not to believe his class teacher and added that she kept him standing for three periods on September 14.

“Aaj maine soch liya hai ki main marne wala hoon. Meri aakhri iksha meri ma’am ko kisi bachhe ko itni badi saza na dene ko kahein (Today I have decide to end my life. It’s my last wish that please tell my teacher not to give such a punishment to any other student),” he said in the suicide note.

“The incident hurt the child so much that he took the extreme step,” his father Ravi Prakash said in a police complaint.

“On the basis of the complaint lodged by his parents, a case has been registered against the manager and the principal of the school,” said SSP Siddhartha Anirudhdh Pankaj.

“The cause of the death would be ascertained after we receive the post-mortem report,” he said.

First Published: Sep 21, 2017 15:59 IST