12-year-old Kanchi boy chided by parents tries to immolate

The boy, Kamesh, is a Class 7 student of Ramakrishna Hr Secondary School in Padunelli village in Kancheepuram district. His father Kanniappan, a resident of Agaram village in Baluchettychathiram, is a staff of TANGEDCO. Since Kamesh was irregular to school, Kanniappan and his wife Varalakshmi reprimanded him on Monday. As he refused to go to school on Tuesday morning, they allegedly beat him. 

Upset over this, Kamesh went to the terrace, poured kerosene over his body and set himself ablaze. Hearing his cries for help, his parents rushed upstairs and put out the fire and rushed him to Kancheepuram government hospital, from where he was referred to Kilpauk Medical College (KMC) Hospital as he had suffered 52 per cent burns. His condition remains critical. 

Barely four days after four girl students of a government school in Vellore district ended their lives by jumping into a well for being chided by the school teacher, a 17-year-old boy, studying in Class 12 in a private school in Coimbatore committed suicide by hanging as his teacher scolded him for not doing well in studies. 

Arul Selvam, son of Annamalaisamy of Karumathampatty who is running a lathe workshop, was studying in Class 12 in a private school. Inquiries revealed that his Chemistry teacher Sangeetha, 35, had scolded him for being poor in academics and for not having a decent haircut. “The boy felt embarrassed as she had confronted him in front of other students and informed his parents. The boy’s father then met the school HM and raised a complaint against the teacher,” police said. 

But, the teacher continued to scold Arul Selvam. Unable to take the ill treatment anymore, the boy was driven to take the extreme step. He committed suicide using a ‘saree’ on Monday night. 

On receiving information, Karumathampatty police rushed to the spot and sent the body for post mortem at Coimbatore Medical College and Hospital (CMCH). Based on a complaint from Annamalaisamy, police registered a case against the teacher under IPC section 306 for abetment of suicide. 

Annamalaisamy said, “My son was academically good and had scored 470/500 in Class ten. After I raised a complaint, the teacher began to harass him repeatedly and this led to his death,” he said.