The Kollam police, which has been investigating the suicide of Class 10 student Gauri Neha submitted a report to the Kerala High Court on Monday stating that she was harassed by her teachers.
On October 20, the 15-year-old girl, a student of Trinity Lyceum School at Thangassery in Kollam had jumped from the third floor of her school building, succumbing to her injuries three days later at a private hospital in Thiruvananthapuram.
Gauri’s parents and relatives had alleged that she took the extreme step following harassment by two teachers - Sindhu and Crescent. The Class 10 student had allegedly been verbally abused by one of the teachers after Gauri raised questions over why her younger sister had been shamed in school.
Coastal Circle Inspector R Babu who is in-charge of Kollam West CI confirmed to TNM that the report stated that Gauri was harassed by her teachers. “There are offences from the teacher’s side that come under section 305 of IPC (abetment of suicide),” he said.
The CI added, “Both Sindhu and Crescent used to scold her in connection with some issues that happened ahead of the suicide. I can’t divulge other details on what were the other kinds of harassment as the report has been given to the court.”
The police submitted the report while objecting to the anticipatory bail plea submitted by the accused teachers. The High Court has reportedly deferred hearing the bail plea of the two teachers to Tuesday.
According to media reports, the police has sought custody of the teachers. Gauri’s father Prasanna Kumar has also impleaded in the case.
Following Gauri’s death, the police had booked the teachers for abetment of suicide. However, both Sindhu and Crescent are absconding. They were placed under suspension by the school management following the harassment allegations.
Gauri’s parents had on October 27 met Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, who had promised to arrest those accused in the case.