West Delhi: Class 7 child kills self after repeated scoldings in school

Repeated scoldings by a teacher allegedly drove a Class 7 girl to suicide in the Inderpuri area of west Delhi on December 1. Police say the girl was about to celebrate her 13th birthday on December 20.

She left a suicide note of sorts in the form of writing on the palm of her hand, wrist and a sheet of paper. "The girl had written on her hand that she loved her mother very much, and was now was coming to God. But she didn't mention anyone else's name in particular," says Sameer Sharma, Additional Deputy Commissioner of Police (West). Investigating officers also stated that the child did not blame anybody for the drastic step.

The child's mother, who works as an advocate at a court in Delhi, returned home on December 1 at around 4 pm and found her daughter hanging from the ceiling fan of a room. The mother called out for help, brought down her daughter and rushed her to a nearby hospital. However, she was declared brought dead.

The mother told the police that a day before her child hanged herself, she had found her daughter was crying in her room. The mother told the police that her daughter had been scolded by her biology teacher just a day before the incident and hence had refused to go to school that day.

"The school is conducting an internal enquiry," says a senior police officer, adding, "It was further revealed that the girl had told her friends that she would be changing her school, however, the parents didn't take her words seriously."