Schoolboy’s suicide: Friends speak up, principal arrested for abetment

HYDERABAD: Two days after the death of Mirja Salman Baig, a class IX student of

Ifham Talent School

in Hafeezbaba Nagar, Chandrayangutta, the police arrested the school’s principal, Khaja Zainulabedin.

Salman (16) hanged himself from a ceiling fan with a stole after returning home from school on Wednesday. His family says he was humiliated by the school‘s management for not paying fees. “The principal humiliated my brother by pulling his pants down and beating him. He was being threatened by the management for three or four days to clear dues before he took the extreme step,” said Salman’s brother Basheer.

Salman was reluctant to go to school on Wednesday, Basheer said. “We regularly paid his fees until demonetisation. After that, because of the ensuing cash crunch, we could clear his fees just once.”

Salman’s classmates also alleged ill treatment at the school. “We are often made to sit in lower classes as punishment. I was once made to sit in class II along with others by the principal,” said Mohd Farhan.

While the police are yet to investigate the allegations raised by Salman’s family members, they have seized the school’s receipt book, besides other relevant documents. “We have registered a case of abetment of suicide under section 306 of the Indian Penal Code. We are investigating the matter. We have moved all documents to the court,” said inspector

N Shankar

of the Kanchanbagh police station.

The school’s management has refuted the allegations, saying Salman committed suicide due to personal reasons. “Although a month’s fee payment was pending, we never bothered the student as his family had been regularly making fee payments. When we inquired with a few of his friends in the school, we found he was involved in a love affair. He might have committed suicide due to failure in his relationship,” said Sakina, co-ordinator, Ifham Talent School.