The hearing in the death of Raunak Banerjee, a student of Baldwin Boys' High School who committed suicide allegedly due to bullying, was on Monday postponed by the Child Welfare Committee (CWC) after the parents of the accused said that he had examinations coming up.
Fourteen-year-old Raunak was found dead on June 29 after returning home from school. In his schoolbag, he left a note saying that he 'couldn't take it anymore and was terribly bullied by a group of boys in school'.
The J.P. Nagar police detained a minor for allegedly bullying Raunak. The CWC was expected to hear the case on Monday.
A CWC member said that it is difficult to pinpoint blame in a case of bullying. "It is difficult to say if this student alone was involved in bullying. It is possible that other children too could have been involved," said Rajendra Kulkarni, CWC member. "Besides, Raunak could have had other personal problems that his parents were unaware of."
When asked about the options before the CWC, Mr. Kulkarni said that the committee could recommend guidelines on bullying to be put in place in schools, as was done in earlier instances when schools came under the scanner. In July 2014, the Police Department issued nine guidelines to protect children after instances of sexual abuse in schools in the city emerged.
