In a heartbreaking incident that came to light in the Muzaffarnagar district of Uttar Pradesh on Wednesday (22nd July), a 10-year-old girl committed suicide after being publicly humiliated by two school teachers who accused her of stealing ₹10. An FIR was registered by the Police on Wednesday night against the teachers. An investigation is underway.
The victim was a resident of Pachenda village in the New Mandi Police Station area of Muzaffarnagar and studied in Class 4 at a local Govt Primary School. She was the youngest among five daughters of her parents, Ashok Rajput and Jyoti. She dreamt of becoming a wrestler and used to train at a local akhara. According to the complaint filed by her father, he received a phone call from his daughter’s teacher, Savita, around noon on the day of the incident. The teacher told him that his daughter had stolen ₹10 from her purse.
The father told the teacher that he was at work and requested her to counsel the victim. However, Savita insisted on him coming to the school immediately, to which the father promised to visit the school the next day. Moreover, instead of counselling the victim, she informed another teacher, Rajeev, about the incident. Rajeev beat the victim and humiliated her in front of her classmates.
After returning home from work in the afternoon, Ashok Rajput found her daughter hanging from the ceiling fan. He quickly grabbed her body and untied her. He rushed her to a nearby doctor, who declared her dead. On receiving information about the incident, the police sent her body for postmortem.
“My daughter would have been alive had she not been assaulted and shamed over a false accusation,” the grieving father said. The police have registered a case against Savita and Rajeev under Section 107 of the BNS. “Statements of witnesses are being recorded, and evidence is being collected,” DSP (New Mandi) Sunil Kumar said.
Additionally, an internal inquiry has been initiated by the local education department into the incident. “A committee has been formed to probe the incident, and action will follow based on the findings of the inquiry report,” Basic Shiksha Adhikari (BSA) Sandeep Kumar said.
The present incident reminds one of a similar case in which a girl student studying in 4th standard at Neerja Modi School, Jaipur, died by jumping off the fourth floor of the school building.
