CCTV Shows Teacher ‘Humiliating’ Student; Probe Widens in Delhi Class 10 Suicide Case

New Delhi : Three days later than a Class 10 pupil of central Delhi in St Columba’s School leaped to his suicide, the Delhi police declared that it has located five of the boys friends and has issued questioning not only to them but also their families in relation to the case.

Out of the five boys under scrutiny as witnesses, three of the classmates, who were named in the FIR submitted on the complaint of the father, were the first to inform the family that the 16-year-old was picked on several times in the previous four days by three teachers and the headmistress. One of the investigators who knew their words said they had a consistent story: this is a specific group of friends who had the sense of being targeted, they were intimidated and humiliated repeatedly by the members of staff.

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There are other incidences which investigators claim are supported by CCTV footage. In one of the recordings, a police officer said, a teacher is observed embarrassing him before other children.

Thursday, the four were suspended at school after being booked on BNS sections 107 (abetment to suicide), section 3(5) (common intention).

The boy, who has already been accessed by the FIR, claimed that he has been threatened with expulsion and pushed by one of the teachers. Another teacher supposedly criticized him as being dramatic and overacting in general, and one of the officers as quoted above referred to this criticism as being related to his reluctance to attend a dance rehearsal due to an ankle sprain.

CCTV footage of the area and inside the school between November 11 and 18 is also retrieved by the police.

The first officer indicated that it will call all the four staff members including the headmistress this weekend.

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The initial reports about the students indicate that there is a tendency of constant reprimand and unfair treatment of the boy as well as his friends.

The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) also noted the case and gave a call to the deputy commissioner of police (DCP) and district magistrate (DM) of Central Delhi to provide a report of his actions within the next 10 days. “...No counselling and child protection were given, and the complaints were not listened to, and all this constituted a breach of the Juvenile Justice (Care & Protection of Children) Act, 2015, Right to Education (Violations of the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory) Education (RTE) Act, 2009, and child safety standards.

HT tried to contact the principal of the St Columba but in vain. The school is operated by the Edmund Rice Organisation, which receives queries, which were not answered either.

Talking about suicides may be provocative to others. Nevertheless, suicides can be prevented. In India, some of the main suicide prevention helplines are 011-23389090 of Sumaitri (Delhi-based) and 044-24640050 of Sneha Foundation (Chennai-based).

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