The Delhi High Court has asked the CBI to respond to a plea seeking transfer of the probe into a Class 10 student’s suicide. The boy’s father alleges teacher harassment and lack of a fair investigation by local police.
The Delhi High Court has asked the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to respond to a petition filed by the father of a Class 10 student who allegedly died by suicide in New Delhi. The incident took place when the 16-year-old boy reportedly jumped in front of a train at Rajendra Place metro station.
A suicide note was recovered from him in which he named four teachers and accused them of “sustained mental harassment”. Following this, the Delhi Police registered an FIR under sections related to abetment of suicide.
The matter came up before Justice Neena Bansal, who was hearing the plea filed by the student’s father. In the petition, the father requested that the investigation be handed over to the CBI.
He said that the transfer was
“necessary to ensure an independent, transparent, and credible inquiry into the matter and to uphold the rights of the deceased as well as other students who continue to suffer due to the persistent harassment and mistreatment by the teachers”.
The court has now sought a reply from the CBI, and it has also directed the Delhi Police to file a status report within four weeks on the investigation already carried out. The next hearing of the case has been fixed for March 12.
According to the plea, the father has “no confidence” in the ability of the local police or school authorities to conduct a fair, impartial, and thorough investigation into the circumstances leading to the boy’s death.
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He argued that
“In view of the serious allegations of harassment, mental torture, and possible misconduct by the teachers, the petitioner (father) seeks the intervention of this court to transfer the investigation to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) or to constitute a Special Investigation Team (SIT)”.
The petition also highlighted that the transfer of the investigation was important because of the last words written by the deceased in his note. The note allegedly stated that action should be taken against the teachers.
The plea added,
“The suicide note is not merely a narration of his pain but a solemn appeal that his voice be heard and that no other student should face similar torture and harassment. In order to honour his last words and ensure that truth is not suppressed under institutional influence, an independent, impartial, and credible investigation by the Central Bureau of Investigation has become necessary”.
However, the counsel for the Delhi Police opposed the plea, stating that the CBI was already overburdened and therefore should not be given more cases to handle.
The petition further claimed that the Delhi Police seemed “biased” and that even after registering the FIR, it was “protecting the accused persons” who were named in the suicide note.
The plea stated,
“On the fateful day, the son of the petitioner was harassed publicly in front of his fellow students to the extent that he had no choice but to end his life,” adding that “It is stated that the investigating agency has not fairly probed the said offence, which has occurred, and it has taken no action in the last 20 odd days. The investigating agency has not even taken steps to take any coercive action against the school authorities, as well as the teachers who have been specifically named in the suicide note”.
The father also alleged that the police took more than four hours to register the FIR on November 19, and that officials even attempted to dictate the contents of the FIR to him, telling him not to mention the school’s name.
According to the Delhi Police, all four staff members mentioned in the FIR appeared before investigators on November 26 for questioning. Officials said the investigation was expanding and that they had examined the CCTV footage from the school premises through a digital video recorder (DVR).
The footage reportedly included the moment when the student was reprimanded after slipping and falling during a drama club performance.
The police have also recorded statements of several students, including classmates of the deceased. The school has suspended all four staff members named in the suicide note, including the headmistress of Classes 4 to 10 and the coordinator for Classes 9 and 10.
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