Chennai: Adding to the series of schoolgirl deaths in Tamil Nadu over the past couple of weeks, a Class 11 student hanged herself at her residence in the Ayyambatti area near Sivakasi on Tuesday. This is the fourth recent case of student suicide in the state.
The girl was the younger daughter of Kannan and Meena. The couple, who work as daily wage labourers at a cracker factory, were at work when their daughter took the extreme step.
The girl hung herself after returning from school when her grandmother had stepped out. On returning home, the elderly woman was shocked to see her hanging and immediately called for help, following which her neighbors informed the local police.
A police officer told NDTV, "We will not say anything till this investigation is completed."
No suicide note has been found yet.
Three Class 12 girls and now a Class 11 girl have died in the state in the past two weeks -- three of them in the past two days.
The incident in Sivakasi occurred hours after a Class 12 student was found dead in the Cuddalore district.
In a four-page suicide note, the Cuddalore student blamed her "inability to fulfill IAS aspirations placed on her by her parents", said Police Inspector Karthik.
Concerned by the recurrent deaths, Chief Minister M K Stalin yesterday appealed to girl students to shun suicidal thoughts. "Girls should never be pushed to suicidal thoughts. Turn trials into accomplishments," he said, adding that tough action would be taken against those involved in sexual, mental, and physical harassment of students.
On Monday, a Class 12 student of Sacred Heart Girls Higher Secondary School in Tiruvallur district was found dead at her hostel. No suicide note was recovered.
The first of these four deaths was reported on July 13 in the Kallakurichi district. The death of the student at a private residential school had sparked violent protests and arson that left several people, including senior police officers, injured.
Five people, including the school's principal and two teachers, were arrested in the Kallakurichi case after police found a note that accused two teachers of "humiliating her for her academic performance".
The girl's parents, however, alleged that the crime scene had signs of physical struggle and moved court. The Madras High Court then ordered a repeat autopsy.
The high court also ordered that deaths in educational institutions be investigated by the CB-CID.