CHENNAI: A woman has moved the Madras High Court for a direction to two schools in Madipakkam to pay a compensation of Rs 50 lakh for the suicidal death of her son in May last year.
Justice M Sathyanarayanan, before whom the writ petition from S Devi and her mother Karpakam came up for hearing on Wednesday, admitted it and ordered notice to the authorities, returnable by August 20.
According to petitioner, a flower vendor, she and her husband, an auto driver, struggled to raise their children due to poverty. They belonged to the Adi Dravidar community. However, they managed to get their first son Sarathkumar complete Plus One in Holy Prince Matriculation Higher Secondary School in the area. As Sarathkumar wanted to pursue an engineering course after Plus Two, his parents put him in tuition for maths with one Chinnapparaj, who was also the class teacher, as per the suggestion of the school principal. While so, all of a sudden, due to some dispute between the principal and Chinnapparaj, the former told Sarathkumar to discontinue the tuition with the latter. The principal developed a grudge when Sarathkumar ignored this.
In the middle of the academic year in 2012-13, the principal, without any valid reason and with a mala fide intention, threatened and forced the petitioner’s son to join another school - Pole Star Matriculation Higher Secondary School - run by the same management. The change in school at the time of exams affected his studies and Sarathkumar, keen in joining an engineering course, failed in two subjects. A disappointed and depressed Sarathkumar attempted suicide by hanging on the very next day of the announcement of results i.e. on May 10, and died at the Government Rajiv Gandhi Hospital on May 15, 2013. Holding the two schools responsible for the death of her son, the mother moved the HC with the present writ petition.