Two teenagers hang selves inside shut Greater Noida school

The parents of both victims have given in writing that they had disapproved of their relationship in the past and had opposed it, due to which the duo might have taken the extreme step

A 19-year-old man and a 17-year-old girl, both students of different inter colleges, allegedly took their lives inside a classroom of a private school in Greater Noida on Friday afternoon, police said.

Although no suicide note was found from the spot, police suspect the duo may have been involved in a relationship. Police said the man was scheduled to get married to another woman in the next few days (File)

According to police, the victims allegedly entered a shut private school under Rabupura area of Greater Noida around noon on Friday and hung themselves from the grilles of a door in one of the classrooms.

Although no suicide note was found from the spot, police suspect the duo may have been involved in a relationship. Police said the man was scheduled to get married to another woman in the next few days, which might have forced the duo to take the step.

The names of the two victims have been withheld in this report to protect the identity of the minor victim girl.

“We received information around 1.05pm that two bodies have been found from a classroom of a private school near Chak Birampur village of Rabupura. A team was sent to the spot to recover the body and sent it for post mortem, the results of which are currently awaited. The school was closed for the past one week due to winter vacation. The man is a native of a local village and is a Class 12 student while the girl also belongs to a neighbouring village and is a Class 11 student. Prima facie, the case appears to be of suicide borne out of a romantic relationship,” said Nishank Sharma, circle officer, Greater Noida 1.

Police said initial probe indicated their families did not approve of the relationship. “The parents of both victims have given in writing that they had disapproved of their relationship in the past and had opposed it, due to which the duo might have taken the extreme step. For now, we have only reported the event and not filed any case. We are awaiting the post mortem reports for any further action,” said Vineet Jaiswal, superintendent of police (rural).

Initial findings of the police revealed that the man was about to get married to another girl, an investigator, who was not authorised to speak to the media, said.

When approached, families of both victims chose not to comment on the matter.

District inspector of schools PK Upadhyay said the administration will see if any of the parents object to the security violation by the school management. “The need to investigate the matter will depend on the will of the parents of the victims since the school was closed due to winter vacations and the students belonged to different schools. We have taken cognisance of the incident,” said Upadhyay.

The school management was unavailable for comments.

Speaking on incidents of minors and adolescents taking the extreme step, Dr Smita Pandey, counsellor and founder of Holistic Well being Services said, “We often see that there is not just generation gap but communication gap as well when it comes to parents and their children. Therefore, parents are the last to know any personal detail about their child. In India, factors such as caste, creed, social stature play an important part in people’s lives and parents disapproving of adolescence relationships result in children taking extreme steps.”

A few major suicide prevention helpline numbers in India are +91-4066202000 from ‘Roshni’ (Hyderabad based) and +91-4424640050 from Sneha India foundation (Delhi based) besides the police helpline number 100.