KEONJHAR: Five days after a 16-year-old student of a private school in Champua died by suicide after jumping from the hostel building, police on Thursday arrested four persons including a teacher and administrative officer of the educational institution.
The accused are hostel supervisor Daitari Sahu (45), teacher Shashi Shekhar Jha (58), administrative officer Prakashan T (48) and hostel warden Surendra Nath Mishra (52). They were arrested under section 108/3 (5) of the BNS (abetment of suicide) on basis of the complaint filed by the student’s father Sudhansu Sekhar Pradhan of Jharkhand’s Chaibasa, in Champua police station.
In his complaint, Sudhansu said his son Krishna Pradhan was studying in Class X at Kerala English Medium School and resided in the hostel. Krishna was subjected to continuous physical assault and mental harassment by the school authorities which eventually led to his suicide.
Sources said shortly after the morning assembly on July 12, Krishna reportedly jumped from the roof of the four-storey hostel building. He was rushed to Champua hospital where the doctors declared him dead on arrival. The school authorities informed the police and his guardian following which his family members arrived at Champua.
Following the incident, tension flared up outside the hospital and the school with the student’s family members demanding a thorough investigation and access to CCTV footage. Authorities allowed three of Krishna’s family members to review the footage, but protests continued.
Senior police and administrative officials intervened and brought the situation under control. Subsequently, the family agreed for a postmortem. Police registered a case under relevant sections of the BNS and started investigation.
After verifying the allegation of the complainant and reviewing evidence, police arrested the four accused and produced them in court. The accused were remanded in judicial custody.