Jharkhand girl commits suicide after being beaten by teacher for wearing Bindi in school
The teacher and principal of the school have been arrested and booked under charges of abetment of suicide.
A case of school faculty insulting and humiliating a student because of her culture and abetting her suicide has come forward in Jharkhand’s Dhanbad district after a 17-year-old girl committed suicide after she was beaten and humiliated by her teacher in front of the whole school for wearing a bindi to the school.
In a suicide note, the girl wrote, “I, Usha Kumari, 17, daughter of late Vijay Bauri, resident of Hanumangarhi is going to commit suicide. My problem is that I am a student of Dhanbad St Xavier School, today one of my teachers insulted me in front of the whole school and throw me out. Her name is Sindhu Madam and she is solely responsible for my death. When I will die, take action against her.”
Usha Kumari had gone to school on July 10th in her uniform and also wearing a bindi. Seeing this, the teacher insulted her and even slapped her in front of the entire school. Usha Kumari came back home and told her mother Vandana Devi everything. After this Vandana Devi and Usha both went back to school, where Usha was insulted once again and both of them were sent back home.
Usha became so upset with the insults showered upon her that she, unfortunately, took the step of hanging herself from the ceiling fan, while still in the school uniform. After the family members found the body of the girl along with the suicide note, they carried the body to the school in their and staged a dharna outside the school campus.
The SDPO Nisha Murmu told the media that, on the complaint of the victim’s mother Vandana, they have arrested the principal of the school Rajkishore Singh and Sindhu Jha.
The National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) chairperson Priyank Kanoongo took to Twitter and said that a team of the NCPCR will reach Dhanbad for further investigation into the case.
“In Jharkhand’s Dhanbad, a girl student has been reported to have committed suicide after being thrashed for going to school wearing a bindi. The cognizance of the matter is being taken, and the team of @NCPCR_will go to Dhanbad for investigation,” Kanoongo tweeted.
Chairperson of Child Welfare Committee (CWC) Dhanbad, Uttam Mukherjee said that he has met the victim’s family on Wednesday. “It is a serious matter. The school is also not affiliated with the CBSE board. I have told the District Education Officer. The accused has been arrested,” Mukherjee said.
Following the suicide, demands are coming from all sides to suspend the registration of the school. The Bhartiya Janata Party state president, Babulal Marandi from his official Twitter handle wrote, “Heartbroken to hear the news. A class 10 student studying at St. Xavier’s School in Dhanbad has committed suicide. The student had written a suicide note in her uniform. It has been revealed that the girl student had gone to school wearing a bindi, for which a teacher there had beaten and humiliated her. Hurt by this, the student ended her life. Don’t know why such schools are annoyed with eternal symbols? Honourable Chief Minister, take cognizance of this matter and write a letter to the concerned department to cancel the recognition of the school.”
This is not the first case where Catholic Convent schools have beaten, abused and humiliated students, especially Hindu students for wearing items such as Bindis, Rakhis, Kadas, etc. Meanwhile, the same schools would not stop Christian students from wearing a cross. Such catholic schools have also been a safe haven for the conversion of young students to Christianity by influencing the young impressionable minds of such students and by forcing them to say Christian prayers.
It is also ironic how some political parties and schools are okay with Muslim students wearing a Hijab or Burqa but they are not okay with Hindu students wearing something synonymous with their identity or something that shows their religious identity.
