ROURKELA: A Class VIII student of a government-run residential school in Sundargarh district hanged himself in his hostel room after being allegedly forced to end his romantic relationship with a girl.
The body of the 13-year-old student was found hanging from the ceiling fan of his hostel room in the ST&SC Development department-run Erla Sevashram in the wee hours of Monday.
While police investigation is underway to ascertain the exact reason behind the student taking the extreme step, prima facie it appeared that the boy killed himself after failing to cope up with emotional crisis due to premature end of his affair with a girl.
Headmaster Arun Patel said he was informed about the incident by the school peon between 3 am and 4 am. The hostel room was occupied by 20 students and the peon was sleeping in an adjacent room. It is believed that as other students slept, the 13-year-old might have hanged himself unnoticed.
Patel said he was told by his roommates that recently, the student seemed sad and chose to remain isolated. In March this year, he and a girl student of the school were given transfer certificates (TCs) after they were found involved in an affair. While the girl changed the school, the student was allowed to continue on request of his father, he informed.
In-charge district welfare officer (DWO) Bibekananda Mohanty said police investigation might shed more light over the possible reason for the suicide.
Meanwhile, a group of villagers including the student’s family members raised a hue and cry on the school premises over the incident.
His father, a daily wager of adjacent Nuagaon block, suspected that his son was killed and hanged by his roommates. He demanded a proper investigation into his death.
IIC of Bisra police station Manoranjan Kumbhar said the student’s body was sent for autopsy. Further investigation is underway to determine the circumstances leading to the incident.
The school has 153 students including 122 boarders in the hostels meant for boys and girls.