The J.P. Nagar police have detained a minor boy for allegedly bullying 14-year-old Raunak Banerjee, a class 10 student of Baldwin Boys’ High School who committed suicide on June 29.
Raunak had jumped from the 10th floor of his residential apartment immediately after returning from school. He had left a suicide note claiming that he had been bullied by his classmates.
The police picked up the bus driver, who had ferried the boy, and also a few students for questioning. “Based on their account, we identified and detained the boy responsible for ragging Raunak,” said a police officer.
The police investigations revealed that the boy would make fun of Raunak’s physical appearance, often humiliating him. “He would call him names and bully him while other boys laughed at him. Raunak used to object and had even complained to the driver many times,” the police officer said.
The boy, who studied in the same school as Raunak, was booked under the Juvenile Justice Act. He was remanded in the State Home for Boys on Thursday. “The case has been transferred to the Child Welfare Committee (CWC) for further procedure,” said Additional Commissioner of Police Charan Reddy. The CWC has called for a hearing on Monday.
Raunak’s father, Chandrajoy Banerjee, said, “A boy of that age should know that this is not the way to deal with his peers. My son was a very quiet boy. What was the point in harassing him to the extent that he committed suicide?”
