An 18-year-old girl in Odisha’s Kendrapara died allegedly by suicide after she was frisked by a male teacher before she entered the examination hall.
The girl’s mother lodged a police complaint on Saturday alleging her a male teacher frisked her daughter “inappropriately” on February 19 as she appeared for the ongoing exams conducted by the Council of Higher Secondary Education (CHSE).
Pattamundai inspector-in-charge Dheeraj Lenka told PTI that she was frisked by men instead of female teachers, which is against the guidelines of the education board.
The victim was a student of Class 12. She died by suicide on February 24. The complainant said she was upset over the harassment.
“Upset over the harassment, the class 12 student ended her life on February 24,” the complainant said.
The police are verifying the CCTV footage to ascertain the sequence of events.
“The complaint was lodged yesterday. We have launched an investigation and are verifying the CCTV footage to ascertain what happened. If evidence is found, legal action will be initiated against the accused,” Lenka said.
The college authorities, however, denied the allegation.
“Girl students are frisked by female staffers before they are allowed to enter exam halls. The allegation that a male teacher inappropriately frisked a student is not true,” Pattamundai College Principal Dilip Kumar Bhuyan said.
Itching powder thrown on girl in Kerala govt school
Meanwhile, in an unrelated incident, a case has been registered against six students and two teachers of a government higher secondary school Kochi in connection with an alleged incident of itching powder being thrown on a girl student last month.
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A cop from Infopark police station said the case was registered on Saturday based on a complaint by the girl, who alleged that the itching powder was thrown on her in the first week of February.
With inputs from PTI
Discussing suicides can be triggering for some. However, suicides are preventable. A few major suicide prevention helpline numbers in India are 011-23389090 from Sumaitri (Delhi-based) and 044-24640050 from Sneha Foundation (Chennai-based).