ERODE: A class X student in Vallipurathanpalayam tried to kill herself on Thursday allegedly after being told by her father to stop attending school because bus services to the village had not resumed fully post easing of lockdown restrictions.
The girl (15) studied in the government school at Sengodampalayam, which is 6.5 km away from her village and used to travel by bus daily. Since the bus service was irregular, the girl’s father dropped her at school on Wednesday before heading to work in Perundurai. After classes got over for the day at 3.30 pm, she waited for a bus to return home.
Since it got late, she took a bus going towards Perundurai and got off at Vepampalayam. From there, she walked three kilometres to her village. Upon knowing the incident, her father scolded her and told her to discontinue studies at least until bus services resumed. The girl got upset and on Thursday, tried to kill herself. Her parents and neighbours broke open the door of her room and rescued her.
Rattled by the girl’s action, residents of Vallipurathanpalayam appealed to the government to restore the bus services fully for the benefit of students. The village has a middle school and students have to travel to Sengodampalayam, Thindal or Pallipalayam to pursue education.
Two buses were operated between Vallipurathanpalayam and Bhavani through Erode bus stand. “The buses ply through Thindal, Sengodampalayam, Kumalankuttai, Collector Office, GH, PS Park, Erode bus stand. When there were two buses, the services were regular between 7am and 9pm. However, following the lockdown, only one bus is operated and the evening service has been irregular,” Sekar (name changed), a resident of the village, said.
More than 30 students in the village depend on the bus to reach schools. They are forced to walk to school due to shortage of buses. If the situation persisted, girls would be forced to dropout, they added. The residents said they urged the transport department to restore buses as schools had reopened, but there was no action.
Upon knowing the girl’s action, District Collector H Krishnanunni reportedly assured that bus services to the village would be restored.