14-year-old from Hosa Guddadahalli ends life after faltering in academics

A 14-year-old boy from Hosa Guddadahalli allegedly committed suicide by lying down on a railway track in front of a speeding train.

The body of J Girish, a class IX student of Isaac Newton English School in Cottonpet, was found on the tracks in Deepanjalinagar on Tuesday morning, the police said. The head was severed and had fallen at a distance, they said.

Girish, who was “one of the best students in class”, had scored low marks in science and mathematics in the unit tests held recently.

His family suspects that he had decided to kill himself on Monday, when he left for school. He left for school as usual, his mother Bhagyamma, a contract tailor with garment factories, said. He was looking normal, had his daily fill of Indian bread (chapatti) for breakfast and dressed up well before he set out to school, she said.

Bhagyamma became panicky when he did not return home till late at night. She rushed to the Cottonpet police station and registered a missing person’s complaint. On Tuesday morning, she got a call from an unknown person, informing her about his son’s death.

The railway police said they found the body with the head separated. Half the body had been eaten by dogs, they said.

Girish was a quiet boy, sister Navyashree, 16, said. After failing in the two subjects, he had joined the tuition classes of his class teacher, she said.  “He was scared of expressing his feelings,” Navyashree said.

“I never scolded my son for getting low marks in his class tests,” Bhagyamma said. “I am clueless why he took the extreme step.”

Bhagyamma has been taking care of her family after the death of her husband, V Jogaiah, an electrician, about 10 years ago.

Investigations revealed that Girish had not attended school on Monday. He spent some time at a medical shop in Cottonpet.

The owner of the shop told the police that Girish was later found playing with children till around 7pm. He then told the boy to go home as it was getting dark, the police said.

Girish’s class teacher Chandrakala KV said he was a brilliant student and was regular in classes. “This was the first time that he was absent without taking permission. He was one of the best students in class, but he got low marks in one or two subjects in the unit tests,” she said.

The post-mortem was done at the Victoria Hospital.