Bodies of two teenaged boys were found run over by an unidentified train on the Madurai-Virudhunagar railway track near Tirumangalam on Wednesday morning.
The deceased – M. Sankarapandi (14) of Melakottai and I. Sanjay Kannan (14) of A. Thottiyapatti – could have committed suicide by falling before a speeding train dejected over their failure in the standard IX examination, the Inspector of Police, Tamil Nadu Railway Police (TRP), Virudhunagar, G. Ravanan, said.
The students of a private school near Tirumangalam, however, had been attending classes (again in 9th standard) till Tuesday ever since the school reopened after summer vacation on June 1. They had not shown any signs of discomfort both at school and their homes, Mr. Ravanan said.
The boys, who had gone out after school hours on Tuesday evening, did not return home. The police suspect that they lay on the track close to the Madurai-Rajapalayam highway junction on Tuesday night. Their bodies were noticed only in the morning. “There was no suicide note left by them,” Mr. Ravanan said.
The school Principal, V. Deepa, said that the duo was among six students who had failed in the 9th standard annual examination. Among them, three boys, including the two, opted for the supplementary examination.
While one of them had failed in two subjects, the other had failed in all five subjects. The boys had been writing their supplementary examination till Tuesday.
The bodies were handed over to the parents after post-mortem.
Growing concern
Expressing concern over the increasing incidence of suicides by adolescent people, C. P. Rabindranath, former Head, Department of Psychiatry, Government Rajaji Hospital, attributed this trait to intense competition and commercialisation. “In the last five years, suicide rate among children in Madurai region has been very high due to competition and pressure from parents and peers,” said Dr. Ravindranath.
He pointed out that families tended to equate good marks with enhanced prestige. People of the earlier generation led a principled life and were protected by a joint family system, which was not the case with nuclear families.
It was unfortunate that children, who failed in their first suicide attempt, tended to repeat it, he added.
