Bengaluru: Scolded for copying, 16-year-old student ends life

Parents protest in front of school with girl’s body; Principal defends teacher
Bengaluru: Scolded for copying, 16-year-old student ends life

BENGALURU: In yet another incident, a 16-year-old SSLC student hanged herself at her house in Pillareddy Nagar in Banasawadi on Sunday evening, after she was caught copying in an examination. Blaming the teacher for the incident, the parents and relatives of the vicitm brought her body in front of the school and staged a protest on Monday.

The deceased Amrutha is the only child of the Anantkumar and Asha. She was a student of Mariam Nilaya School in Dodda Banasawadi.

Police said Amrutha was caught copying from a chit by her teacher Shalini during the Social Science exams last week. The teacher had reprimanded her in front of other teachers, and has also allegedly chided her over the same issue in the classroom for the next four to five days after the exam. “She was alone in the house on Sunday evening as her parents had gone out.

They returned to find Amrutha hanging. She has left a note stating that she was unable to forget what happened in the school, and that she can’t live with the guilt. She has also apologised to her parents in the letter for taking the extreme step,” the police said.

Based on a preliminary probe and the complaint filed by her father, the Ramamurthy Nagar police have registered an unnatural death report. The police are yet to record the statement of the teachers, students and school staff.

On Monday morning, Children’s Day for Mariam Nilaya School in Banasawadi was marked by grieving parents and relatives, who brought the casket of their daughter to the school gates.

Amrutha’s parents blamed the school for pushing her to take the extreme step, and demanded action be taken against the school and the teacher. Speaking to media persons, the school authorities said that they were unaware of the incident until Monday, and had not been in contact with Amrutha since Thursday. “She had written her exams on Wednesday and Thursday.

Friday was a holiday, and on Saturday, she was apparently feeling unwell, so she had not come to school,” said Irine Albuquerque, the school principal.

Defending the teacher’s action, she said that the teacher was not responsible for the death of the girl. “When she saw that Amrutha was cheating, she reprimanded her. We had called her parents to inform them of the incident, and they had also admitted that she had cheated, and scolded her for it. We have definite proof that she was cheating during the exam,” she said. However, speaking to TNIE, she said that the school is awaiting the results of the police investigation to take action.

Second incident in a week
On November 8, Moin Khan (16) a Class 10 student of a private school, was caught copying in an exam. As he was sent out of the classroom by the teacher, he entered an apartment and jumped to death from the 14th floor, in the Sampigehalli police station limits.

(Suicide helplines -- Maithri, Cochin: +91 239 6272; Sumaitri, New Delhi: 2338 9090, Sneha, Chennai: 91-44-2464 0050, 91-44-2464 0060, Aasra, Mumbai: 9820466726, Fortis MentalHealth: 8376804102)

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