Police form SIT to probe Faridabad suicide

GURUGRAM: Police have set up a special investigation team (SIT) to probe the February 24 suicide in Faridabad of a 16-year-old Class 10 student, who left a note saying, ‘this school killed me’.

The teenager’s mother, a teacher at the same Faridabad school where he studied, has alleged he was bullied for years in school and had been sexually assaulted in the washroom by a group of boys.

The 16-year-old who, according to his relatives, had developed a “school phobia” because of the bullying, was dyslexic. He had also been diagnosed with depression and was seeing a counsellor. Based on a complaint filed by his mother, police on Sunday arrested the school’s academic head (headmistress). She has been charged under Section 306 (abetment to suicide).

“The SIT will investigate all scientific aspects of the case based on evidence,” Sube Singh, the Faridabad police spokesperson, said.

The SIT, police said, will work under the supervision of the DCP (central) and will be headed by ACP (central) Satyapal Yadav.

Its other members include BPTP SHO inspector Arjun Dev, the SHO of the women’s police station Geeta, investigating officer

ASI Rakesh

and members of the child welfare committee. The CWC members will be present during when investigators speak to minros.

The police are currently probing the role of eight students in connection with the sexual assault. Their statements are yet to be recorded. Four of the students no longer study in the Faridabad school.

On Monday, police had collected handwriting samples of the 16-year-old boy, including a journal from his house and some papers from the school. All the documents, police said, would be sent to an expert for handwriting analysis. In the note he wrote before he jumped from the 15th floor of the building where he lived, the boy blamed the school and “higher authorities” for his plight.

“Mumma, you are the best mom on this planet. I am really sorry that I couldn’t be more brave. This school has killed me…,” he wrote in the heart-rending note.

The headmistress of the school applied for bail on Wednesday again. However, due to a dispute between police and lawyers, her plea could not be heard. According to the sources, Faridabad police’s crime branch had picked up a person from the lawyers’ chamber, which led to a spat between the cops and lawyers and disrupted court proceedings.