‘Ridiculed for eating beef’ at school, 16-year-old Tamil Nadu boy dies by suicide

COIMBATORE: A Class XI Scheduled Caste student of a govt-aided school died by suicide at his residence at Peelamedu in the city on Wednesday allegedly following harassment by his two classmates and a teacher over eating beef.The Peelamedu police have registered a case against class teacher Vijayakumar, headmaster Arun Kumar, and two students of Shri K K Naidu Higher Secondary School on Avinashi Road near Peelamedu in Coimbatore on charges of abetment of suicide and other offences.Police identified the deceased student as A Akilan, 16, son of Ashok Kumar and Kousalya Devi. Kumar works as a laundry manager at a resort in Munnar; Kousalya is a domestic help.Returning home from work around 1pm on Wednesday, Kousalya found her son hanging from the bedroom ceiling. She informed police, who shifted the body to ESI Govt Medical College Hospital for postmortem.In her complaint to police, Kousalya said a few months ago her son’s class teacher, while enrolling Scheduled Caste students for a scholarship scheme, asked who all in the class ate beef.Akilan and another student stood up. After that, two of his classmates started harassing Akilan by mentioning his caste; they also assaulted him, she said, accusing the teacher and headmaster of not taking action after Akilan complained to them.Police registered a case under sections 115(2), 108 of BNS and 3(2)(v) of The Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act and began an investigation.Parents and relatives of Akilan protested in front of the police station on Wednesday evening demanding a proper investigation and the arrest of the teacher and the headmaster. Till Thursday night, the body was not handed over to the family as the postmortem was not conducted.“He (Akilan) wanted to become an advocate. The school management and the teacher are responsible for my son’s death. We need justice for him,” Kumar said.Deputy commissioner of police Thangadurai said an inquiry is underway at the police commissioner level. The Child Welfare Committee is also inquiring.