Uttar Pradesh: Unable to bear 'extreme punishment', Class V student from Gorakhpur commits suicide; teacher arrested

Gorakhpur: The teacher of a school in Gorakhpur in Uttar Pradesh was arrested on Thursday under Section 306 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) for abetting suicide by a class V student, police said. Navneet, the 12-year-old student of St Anthony Convent School, had consumed poison after returning from school on 15 September. According to India Today Navneet was upset since he returned home that day. “He quietly went upstairs and after some time, he came down and asked for food. His mother gave him food and after having a bit, he took water in a glass that he brought along with him,” Navneet’s father Ravi Prakash was quoted as saying by India Today. [caption id=“attachment_3475620” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Representational image. AFP[/caption] He died at a city hospital late on Wednesday night after battling for life for six days, police said and informed that he had left a small suicide note behind in which he had written how his teacher Bhawna Rai treated him shabbily and gave him “extreme punishments”. In the pencil written note in English, the boy said that some time back, another teacher Gopa had stripped him naked to punish him. According to The Tribune, in the suicide note, Navneet said, “Papa, Today is my first exam and my class teacher kept me crying till 9.15 am… I was kept standing for three periods. She only listens to her sycophants… I am going to end my life today… Please ask my ma’am not to give such a severe punishment to anyone. Goodbye, mummy, papa & didi.” An official privy to the investigation into the matter said that they had cross-checked the handwriting of the deceased child with his school copies and it had matched. Angry over the death, many parents stormed the school on Thursday and vent their ire on school property. Gorakhpur Superintendent of Police (City) Vinay Kumar Singh said that the class teacher named in the suicide note had been arrested and was being interrogated. Other staff members and management of the school would also be questioned, if required, officials said.