Two days after a 16-year-old student from St Columba’s School in Delhi died by suicide, school authorities have taken disciplinary action, suspending four teachers named in the First Information Report (FIR). The tragedy unfolded on Tuesday when the Class X student, Shourya Patil, jumped from the platform of an elevated Metro station, leaving behind a poignant note that reportedly detailed repeated mental harassment and humiliation by the educators.
The action by the school comes amid intense public outcry and protests by parents and activists demanding accountability for the mental anguish the teenager endured. The FIR, filed by the boy’s father, Pradeep Patil, names the headmaster/principal and three teaching staff, invoking charges of abetment to suicide. Police have since recovered the detailed suicide note, which expressed the student’s final wish that action be taken against the teachers so that “no other child suffers like me". The note, which has been sent for forensic verification, has become a central piece of evidence in the ongoing police investigation.
According to statements made by the victim’s family, the student had repeatedly complained about being verbally abused and subjected to humiliating treatment by the named staff members over minor issues. The father claimed that despite approaching the school management multiple times to address the severe emotional distress their son was experiencing, their concerns were allegedly neglected. Accounts from other students have suggested that the deceased teenager had previously sought counselling for suicidal thoughts, adding a grave layer of concern regarding the school’s internal mental health response mechanisms.
The incident has triggered a difficult, but necessary, conversation about student welfare and the psychological toll of high-pressure academic environments in India. While the school’s disciplinary action marks an immediate, decisive step, the focus now shifts to the police investigation, which must verify the allegations of psychological abuse and harassment.
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