An 18-year-old college student in Odisha’s Kendrapara district committed suicide after being physically harassed with inappropriate frisking by a male teacher before entry into the examination hall.
Representational image (file photo)
An 18-year-old college student in Odisha’s Kendrapara district committed suicide after being physically harassed with inappropriate frisking by a male teacher before entry into the examination hall.
The 12th standard student appeared in the pre-degree Council of Higher Secondary Education (CHSE) at Pattamundai College and died allegedly by suicide. The mother of the student lodged a complaint on Saturday alleging that her daughter was inappropriately touched by a male teacher during the mandatory frisking provision on 19 February. Instead of female teachers, the girl students were frisked by males much against the CHSE guidelines, Inspector-in-charge of Pattamundai rural police station Dheeraj Lenka said, quoting the contents of the FIR.
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Unable to bear the act of harassment, the victim ended her life on 24 February, the FIR alleged.
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“The complaint was lodged on Saturday. We have launched an investigation and are verifying the CCTV footage to ascertain the veracity of the allegation. If prima-facie evidence is found, legal action will be initiated against the accused named in the FIR,” Lenka concluded.
The college authorities, however, denied the allegation.
The girl students are frisked by female staff before allowing them entry into the exam hall. Therefore, there is no iota of truth in the allegation that a male teacher inappropriately touched a student during frisking, Pattamundai College Principal Dillip Kumar Bhuyan said.
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