Days after 14-year-old Raunak Banerjee jumped to death from his apartment in JP Nagar after being allegedly bullied at school, his family has started an online petition seeking justice.
Raunak, a class 9 student of Baldwin Boys’ High School on Hosur Road wrote in his suicide note that his friends bullied him, before jumping off the 10th floor of his apartment on Wednesday.
A Change.org petition was created on Sunday by Arup Sinha who is a family member. In utter disbelief, he writes, “Nobody deserves to DIE because of bullying! A kid who had his whole life ahead, was tortured to some other extent.”
Along with seeking justice for Raunak who gave in to the pressures of bullying, the petition also demands justice for children like him, “who were forced to take such fatal steps.”
The CCTV footage from the apartment reportedly showed Raunak, who lived on the first floor, going to the 10th floor directly after getting off the bus. He left his bag near the lift, before jumping to his death. His mother was informed by neighbours who found his body.
According to reports, the school will conduct a meeting with the 21 students who traveled by the same school bus in the presence of their parents on Monday.
Primary and secondary education minister Tanveer Sait was quoted as saying, “I will soon visit this school. The transport department has already issued a circular regarding safety measures to be implemented in school buses. I will inform the transport department to inspect all school buses and private vehicles which transport school kids, to check which safety measures are in place in these vehicles,“ he added.