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Four staff members, including the headmistress of classes IV-X, of Delhi’s St Columba School have been suspended following the suicide of a Class 10 student earlier this week.
The action came soon after the police filed an FIR in the names of several teachers for alleged mental harassment, which the family claims the child had been complaining about for months.
The suspension order mentions temporary suspension of the headmistress, class 9 and 10 coordinator and two teachers until the case is reviewed. A senior Delhi education department official said a high-level committee has been asked to “comprehensively” investigate the incident and determine whether the school has handled previous complaints appropriately, Moneycontrol reported.
The 15-year-old student died on Tuesday (November 18) afternoon. He allegedly jumped from Rajendra Place metro station Around 2:34 pm. According to police, he was taken to BLK Super Specialty Hospital, but was declared dead on arrival there.
Police officials said that a suicide note has been recovered from the student, in which the names of some teachers have been written and he has accused them of mentally harassing him. It included an apology to his family as well as instructions to donate his organs.
The boy’s father expressed deep disappointment at the school’s response. Speaking to PTI, he described the suspension as “only temporary” and said it was not justice. He demanded immediate arrest of the teachers named in the FIR. “We need to send a message that no teacher should behave like this with our children,” he said, according to a Moneycontrol report.
In a video shared by ANI, the father alleged that his son was troubled “for the last 8-10 months”, claiming that his teacher had scolded him for “every little thing” and even threatened him with expulsion days before the Class 10 board prelims. “He could not bear the insult,” he said.
He told that at around 3:15 pm he received a call informing him that his son had fallen from the metro station. “In his suicide note, he mentioned the teachers who tortured him and expressed his last wish that no child should have to face the same again,” he said.
Responding to the public outcry, the Delhi Education Department constituted a high-level inquiry committee comprising senior officials. The panel has been asked to conduct a “timely and objective” investigation, identify administrative lapses and submit its report within three days.
Police are recording statements of students, teachers and school officials as the investigation progresses.