HRD team visits Kolkata school to probe student’s suicide
By IANSWednesday, June 23, 2010
KOLKATA - A team from the human resource development (HRD) ministry Wednesday visited the La Martiniere school in Kolkata to review a case of alleged suicide by a student after he was given corporal punishment.
The premier Kolkata school came into the news after 13-year-old Rouvanjit Rawla allegedly committed suicide in February, after being caned by the school principal.
According to the school officials, a two-member team from the HRD ministry inquired about the sequence of incidents as they occurred before the alleged suicide.
“The two-member team has asked us to provide a report about the suicide of Rouvanjit. We will do that,” the school secretary told reporters.
A three-member team of the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) has already indicted the school authorities linking the suicide with harassment at school.
The report which has been submitted to the NCPCR chairperson Shanta Sinha calls for action against school principal Sunirmal Chakravarthy and three senior teachers.
The school authorities meanwhile rejected the report calling the findings questionable. The Church of North India, which runs the school said the report was framed with “pre-conceived notions”.
The case is being investigated under Section 305 IPC (abetment to suicide), which carries a jail term from 10 years to life and even death penalty. No arrests have yet been made.
