Student Commits Suicide After Being Shamed For Not Paying Fees

A student of class 9 has committed suicide. She had not paid her school fees. The incident occurred in the Malkajgiri district in Hyderabad. She did this after her school refused to let her take an exam because she had not paid her fees.

The incident took place when the victim was alone at home at around 4:30 pm in the afternoon. “After returning from school my sister said mgmt pressurised and insulted her in front of everyone, she was fine. Later we went out and when we returned, we found her hanging. She wrote in a letter that school is not allowing her to take exam,” said her sister.

A note found near her body said, “"They didn't allow me to write the exam. Sorry, Mom."

She was publicly shamed and asked to leave class because she had not paid the school fees. The police have charged the school with driving the student to suicide.

Student suicides in India:

This case is one of many, where students are so stressed and harassed by teachers, that they undertake drastic measures. Last year a 12-year-old girl in Tamil Nadu killed herself after a teacher scolded her for staining her clothes with menstrual blood. The 7th grader, a student in a Senthil Nagar school, jumped off a 25-foot high building in her hometown of Tirunelvelli.

India has the highest number of teenagers in the world, according to the WHO. But nothing is being done in terms of suicide prevention. We also have one of the world’s highest suicide rates for youth aged 15 to 29, according to a 2012 Lancet report. Every hour, one student commits suicide. Maharashtra has the most number of student suicides, and students primarily take their own lives because of financial pressure. Teenagers find themselves unable to cope with stress, examinations, family pressure and have no infrastructure to support them.

Also Read: Dr Anjali Chhabria Talks About How To Prevent Suicide