In a suspected case of death due to corporeal punishment, a 15-year-old student committed suicide by jumping in front of a train near Hazrat Nizamud-din railway station in south Delhi after being allegedly harassed by his school staff.
The police said the deceased, Pankaj Kumar Nautiyal, a Class 10 student, was missing from his Sewa Nagar residence since Saturday. His body was recovered from railway tracks on Sunday in a badly mutilated condition.
The family members of the deceased have alleged that Pankaj was “harassed” by the school administration that “forced” him to commit suicide. “I don’t know what they did to him when he was taken inside the principal’s room. Whatever it was, my child got so scared that he was forced to commit suicide. Will he ever come back now,” said Chanda Devi, 45, Pankaj’s mother.
The police sources said the school administration is likely to be questioned in the matter. “We have not received any complaint from the victim’s family. The deceased’s post-mortem will be conducted at AIIMS after which his body will be handed over to his parents,” a senior police official said .
Pankaj had left his house for school at 7.15 am on Saturday. Three hours later, his elder sister got a call from the school principal, who told her that Pankaj had a scuffle with his classmate over Rs 100.
Pankaj’s brother Sunil went to the school where he was told that he had scaled the school wall and fled after being allegedly “counselled” by his class teacher and the principal. The family approached the police when Pankaj didn’t return home on Saturday.