The State government has ordered a Crime Branch (CB) inquiry into the suspected suicide of a ninth standard student from an impoverished Dalit family in Malappuram. It has formed a special team under Superintendent of Police, CB CID, K.V. Santosh.
The police seem not to have bought the theory that the student had ‘set herself ablaze’ with kerosene because she could ill-afford to buy a smartphone, laptop computer or television to partake in online classes that commenced on June 1. The victim was a student of the Government Higher Secondary School, Irimbalayam. She died due to severe burns suffered in the compound of a house a little away from her home in the neighbourhood. The Crime Branch would investigate whether the inability to attend classes had triggered a sense of helplessness in the student and prompted her to take her life. Officials said the scenario seemed unlikely.
Teachers had identified her in advance as one among 25 students in the school who had no means to attend the online classes broadcast. The class teacher had spoken to the student and assured her that the school would ensure that she did not miss out on online classes. Moreover, the panchayat education committee at Irimbilayam and the school Parent-Teacher Association had announced that they had an action plan to ensure that the 25 children got access to online learning immediately.
However, the girl's father, said that his daughter had committed suicide because she could not attend the online classes.
