A 15-year-old student, studying in Class X of Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalaya, was found dead in his classroom at Pragpura in Kotputli-Behror district of Rajasthan. Police have registered a case of murder after the Dalit student’s family alleged that two of his schoolteachers were harassing him with casteist slurs.
The boy was found hanging in the government-run boarding school in the early hours of Wednesday. A murder case has been registered against the two teachers. The family insisted that the crime was made to look like suicide.
The boy’s relatives staged a protest in front of the Pragpura police station demanding immediate arrest of the accused. They have also sought ₹50 lakh as financial assistance and a government job for a family member. The two teachers have since been suspended by the school management.
The first information report was registered under Sections 302 (murder) and 34 (act done in furtherance of common intention) of the Indian Penal Code and the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act.
The FIR stated that the student had apprised his father of the ill treatment by the two teachers. It said the school’s principal and vice-principal did not take action against the teachers despite the repeated complaints made by the deceased boy.
Those in distress or having suicidal tendencies could seek help and counselling by calling 100 or any of these helpline numbers.
