Faridabad teenager's suicide: Headmistress, principal named in chargesheet

GURUGRAM: The police team probing the alleged suicide of a 16-year-old boy who was subjected to extreme harassment and bullying in a Faridabad school has named the principal and the headmistress in its chargesheet, 10 months after the case was registered.
The chargesheet underlined negligence on the part of the school authorities despite the boy's mother flagging her son's harassment through emails.The chargesheet came weeks after the mother accused the police of inaction in court and asked why they had not submitted the document yet. While the headmistress, Mamta Gupta, has been named under Section 306 (abetment of suicide) of the IPC and Section 21 (failure to report or record a case) of the Pocso Act, the principal, Surjeet Khanna, was slapped only the Pocso charge.
In February, the Class 10 boy had jumped to his death from an apartment in Faridabad. His mother had alleged that her son was not only harassed over his nature, but was also assaulted sexually in the school's washroom months before the 2020 lockdown. Days before the alleged suicide, he was harassed by the headmistress during an English test when he asked for a 'helper' because of his dyslexia. He had panic attacks after that.
"In one of the call recordings, the teenager can be heard saying that he was unwell and it was English examination and madam was torturing him. He became anxious because of which he developed fever. The recording also mentions that the headmistress harassed him when he was giving English examination. As a result, he got worried, anxious and started having panic attacks after which he ended his life," the chargesheet read.
A forensic analysis was also done of 10 call records between the tormented teenager and his friends. One of them captured his agony.
"He and some other guy tried to rape me in Class 8... in the washroom...they try too but I escaped. They harass me sexually in every way possible. They would slap on my back, you know, kiss me on the back of my neck and touch me inappropriately... I felt insecure," the chargesheet mentioned, quoting one of the transcripts. The police also acknowledged that the boy's mother had written to the school authorities on September 23, 2021, naming three students for sexually assaulting her son and five others for bullying him.
"Because of the abuse done to my son, he has lost his mental composure. He is having suicidal tendencies. In such tender age, he has lost all hopes about good life. I am writing this mail to look for your guidance and support so that I can rejuvenate my son's life in a positive and fulfilling way," one of the emails read.
A month later - on October 25, 2021 - the school responded that the five students named by her were no longer on the rolls and had "departed". The school also found no evidence of harassment, it told the mother. "The alleged incident as stated by you carries no specific particulars or evidence. Yet a strong message of positive respect for every student has been reiterated by school with all of them in presence of their parents."