Roy was originally from Netaji Nagar in Kolkata, but he had gone to his maternal grandparents’ residence for a visit and was staying there before the  incident unfolded. According to police reports, Debashish’s family found him hanging on the night of March 20 and rushed him to a nearby hospital, where he was pronounced dead upon arrival.

Debashish’s father, Tapan Sengupta, has alleged that his son often expressed fears about the implications of the CAA and how he would prove his citizenship if the need arose. As per a report by the Indian Express, Tapan Sengupta described the situation in the police complaint, “…Since the announcement of the notification of CAA, my son had been suffering from mental trauma and agony and was also in acute fear psychosis for not having all the required documents as prescribed in the said notification…”

According to the Deccan Chronicle, he has urged the police to prevent such incidents, and termed the CAA as a ‘draconian Act.’

According to the New Indian Express, Debashish’s relatives have claimed that he had been experiencing panic attacks ever since the announcement of the implementation of the CAA. Furthermore, he has been particularly worried about his father who is bedridden and had migrated from Bangladesh but lacks proper documentation of his migration.

In response to the situation, the BJP has slammed the TMC in turn for creating fear in the minds of citizens. A delegation from the Trinamool Congress (TMC), led by state minister Shashi Panja visited Debashish’s family the following day. Similarly, Srijan Bhattacharya, the Communist Party of India (Marxist) candidate for the Jadavpur constituency also offered his condolences and criticised both the TMC and the BJP for politicising the CAA issue, according to Indian Express.

In 2019, chief minister of West Bengal, Mamata Bannerjee had claimed that over 11 people had committed suicide in fear of being sent to detention camps.

Similarly, Assam Rajya Sabha MP Sushmita Dev has slammed the BJP for bringing the law, saying what happened in Assam is now happening in West Bengal, “In Assam, during the NRC rollout, many took their lives, uncertain of their citizenship. Now, Bengal faces the same tragic reality after the CAA notification.” Assam has seen the implementation of the National Registry of Citizens process. The process has seen over 19 lakh people declared excluded from the list. Several people in the state have committed suicide due to the fear of being sent to detention camps. As the government recently notified rules for th CAA, Assam has been up in protests. Citizens for Justice and Peace had reported in 2019 of a 70 year Hindu man who had been forced to kill himself in Assam after he was declared stateless. iN 2019, CJP had provided a list of 51 names people understood to have died by suicide in Assam  after Assam’s first updated draft of NRC was released in 2018.

Related:

CAA: An attempt to legitimise expansionist nationalism

Selective & discriminatory, CAA notification likely to be followed by NPR-NRC

Government notifies CAA regulations, opposition decries it as a means to polarise voters

Assam: ‘No Aadhaar, No Citizenship, So No Vote to BJP’, said a Citizens Convention

Gauhati University is under complete lockdown, as protests against the CAA implementation spread across Assam, fears of the 2019 repression and loss of life…

The post Kolkata man commits suicide, family claims CAA rules led him to it appeared first on SabrangIndia.

Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) Abhishek Pandey reportedly stated that the IIT administration called the police as soon as possible to report the occurrence, as reported by Hindustan Times. The police team further provided that the circumstances behind Jaiswal’s death are being looked into by a forensic team. The team also stated that possible reasons behind Jaiswal’s suicide will only be revealed after a preliminary probe and completing other formalities. 

The tragic news came to light after the father of the research scholar reached out to the hostel manager, Ritu Pandey, after being worried about his daughter’s lack of response since Wednesday. When they arrived at her room, Priyanka was hanging and her door was locked from the inside.

APPSC, Ambedkar Periyar Phule study circle, a student collective of IIT Bombay took to ‘X’ (formerly Twitter) to shed light on this issue. In his post, the collective wrote “Students protesting at IIT Kanpur following the 3 recent suicides in one month, raising issues of incompetence of redressal mechanisms, representation, and demanding accountability from the administration”.

The post can be viewed here:

Students protesting at @IITKanpur following the 3 recent suicides in one month, raising issues of incompetence of redressal mechanisms, representation, and demanding accountability from the administration @voxiitk #studentsunity #nomoreinstitutionalmurders pic.twitter.com/KNQHTEsM2t

— APPSC IIT Bombay (@AppscIITb) January 19, 2024

Official Statement from IIT Kanpur

An official statement was released by IIT Kanpur as the news of the suicide broke out, expressing deep sorrow over the loss. The institute mourned the “untimely and unfortunate demise” of the student and stated that institute had lost a bright and promising young student.  The statement is as follows: “With profound grief, IIT Kanpur mourns the untimely and unfortunate demise of a PhD student, Ms. Priyanka Jaiswal, who joined the Department of Chemical Engineering of the Institute last month, which is December 2023. The Institute is awaiting the police investigation to determine the likely cause of the death. With Ms. Priyanka’s passing away, the Institute lost a bright and promising young student.”

Previous two incidents of suicides in the past 5 weeks:

The unfortunate incident comes after two student suicides on campus in the previous five weeks. On January 11, M. Tech second-year student Vikas Kumar Meena (aged 31) allegedly hanged himself from the ceiling fan in his IIT, Kanpur hostel room, reportedly after he was “temporarily” barred from continuing with his course.

Prior to this, on December 19, postdoctoral researcher in the biosciences and bioengineering department Pallavi Chilka (aged 34) hanged herself from the ceiling fan of her second-floor hostel room on the campus.

Related:

Another Dalit student dies by suicide after being attacked in Tamil Nadu, activists demand urgent action

Another student, belonging to the Scheduled Caste community, dies by suicide in IIT

67 suicides in central institutes of higher learning despite 80 % claiming SC/ST cells for “assistance”

Dalit MBBS female intern allegedly died by suicide due to caste discrimination

The post IIT Kanpur: Third incident of suicide in five weeks, a 29-year-old PhD scholar found dead in her dorm room appeared first on SabrangIndia.

The deceased, Ved Prakash Yadav, 35, leaves behind his wife and two children, bereft of a future all because the state-run transport could not pay him his salary for two months.

Yadav, a resident of Dataura village of Baberu Kotwali in Banda district, was a bus driver in UP Transport Roadways for the past eight years but struggled since June to make ends meet because he had no money. The UPSRTC had not paid him along with several hundred bus drivers and conductors and they were forced to borrow money from money lenders.

Yadav, according to his colleagues, took a bus from Banda to Prayagraj Zero Road depot. The passengers and conductor deboarded the bus when it reached its destination, but the driver stayed there and later allegedly hanged himself in the bus with a ‘gamcha’. The conductor of another bus saw the driver hanging and raised an alarm. Some officials also reached the spot and the police were informed.

The driver, as per police, had last spoken to his wife at around 12:30 a.m on Sunday and was found hanging inside the bus at around 1 p.m.

DSP Rakesh Singh said that initial police investigation revealed that Yadav had killed himself. He said the body had been sent for post-mortem and efforts were on to ascertain the reason behind the extreme act.

Lavlesh, the brother-in-law of the driver, told NewsClick that Ved Prakash was under tension as he was on contract and some officers had allegedly been demanding money to extend his tenure His wife gave him some money but the demand was high and he was unable to fulfil it. Besides, he was not paid salary for the past two months.

Yadav’s wife accused roadways officials for harassing her husband continuously. “They used to threaten to fire him. They were demanding bribes to renew his contract for which I had borrowed money from relatives, but they were demanding more. He was also not paid a salary for the past two months,” she said.

The Roadways Karmchari Sanyukt Parishad lambasted the state government and the UPSRTC for their callousness.

Mohd. Naseem, a conductor and Yadav’s colleague, alleged that they were being exploited by UPSRTC officers and some employees of the department. He said Ved Prakash Yadav was not paid salary for two months. “For this we also filed a petition in the Allahabad High Court. Investigation is going on,” Naseem told NewsClick, alleging that this was also the reason for Yadav’s suicide,

Last week, the UPSRTC workers, including bus drivers and conductors, had blocked the regional manager’s office in Lucknow and handed over a 25-point memorandum to the General Manager, Roadways, demanding immediate redressal of their long-pending demands.

Among others, the demands include contractual drivers and bus conductors be paid salaries on the same pay scale, regularisation after one year’s service, stopping the operation of private vehicles and unauthorised buses plying on the national highway due to which the government is suffering a loss in revenue. The other key demands included salary parity with other departments, facilities like ESI and PF, the inclusion of workers in arbitration committees.

They also threatened a statewide strike and stopping operation of buses on September 27 if their demands were not fulfilled.

Courtesy: Newsclick

The post UP: Pending Salary, Alleged Harassment, UPSRTC Contract Bus Driver Dies by Suicide appeared first on SabrangIndia.

At the media meet, Modi spoke in front of an audience in Hindi and his speech was broadcast live on a television channel. The following is a translation of his speech. It may be triggering to some, so caution is advised.

Modi said: “In our childhood, we would hear a joke. I want to tell you that.

“There was a professor and his daughter committed suicide. She left a chit, ‘I am tired of life and don’t want to live. So I will jump into the Kankaria Lake and die. In the morning, he saw his daughter was not at home. On the bed he found the letter. The father was very angry. “I am a professor. For so many years I have worked hard, and even now, she has spelt ‘Kankaria’ wrong.” (Kankaria is an area in Ahmedabad, the home state of the prime minister!)

The audience bursts into applause at this point. Modi is also seen laughing.

He then said, “I am happy that Arnab [Goswami, Republic TV head] has begun speaking great Hindi.” More applause followed.

“I didn’t hear what he said but I was paying attention to whether his Hindi is correct or not,” Modi added. “Maybe you have learned Hindi properly because you have been living in Mumbai.”

It is unclear why this “joke” was necessary to “compliment” Goswami’s Hindi.

High suicide rates, distress in the young

According to the National Crime Records Bureau’s latest data, 1,64,033 people died by suicide in India just in 2021. This means that 450 people died each day. This was an increase of 7.2% in terms of absolute numbers as compared to the previous year.

According to this paper published in Indian Journal of Psychiatry, this was the highest recorded ever since the NCRB came into existence. Over a third (34.5%) of those who died by suicide belonged to the age group of 18-30 years. Another 31% were aged between 30-45 years – thus showing that the very people who are referred to as India’s “demographic dividend” are who are dying by suicide.

The fact that mental health does not figure in as priority and people don’t consider suicide a serious issue was revealed in a survey carried out by the The Live Love Laugh Foundation.

In a survey of 3,556 respondents from eight cities across India, a staggering 47% could be categorised as being highly judgmental of people perceived as having a mental illness, Quartz had reported.

Recent reports have also shed light on how academic distress among young Indians is combined with factors like caste discrimination even in elite institutions, rising unemployment and financial struggle, leading students to feel isolated like never before.

Young persons on twitter were articulate.

Pooja Tripathi’s Video on her twitter handle is powerful

कहते हैं छोटी ताबूतों का वजन सबसे भारी होता है विश्व में जो बाईडेन नेशनल मेंटल हेल्थ एक्ट ला रहे , इंडोनेशिया में मेंटल हेल्थ पालिसी 2014 से लागू है , लग्ज़मबर्ग लेटर्स टू स्ट्रैंजर्स पालिसी चला रहा और हमारे प्रधानमंत्री चुटकुला सुना रहे !

Listen to Congress spokesperson  @SupriyaShrinate slammed Narendra Modi on his insensitive & Shameless comments on suicide . She said since 2014 there has been an increase of 60% cases of suicides because the people can’t cope up with inflation, high price, unemployment .

https://twitter.com/i/status/1651496001092595713

Shrinate said this was his (Modi’s) real face peeping out through his carefully crafted image. “This is your truth. The shining image of yours, painted and polished by the media, is just a mask that slips frequently and the truth comes in front of the people. The cheap jibes, the meanness, the cruelty… that’s the real face,” Congress social media head Supriya Shrinate said. RJD Rajya Sabha member Manoj Jha said what was more distasteful was the laughter and clapping from the audience at the Prime Minister’s joke. “We have become a very sick society,” he said.

https://twitter.com/i/status/1651795545739116545

Other Opposition leaders are among those who have registered their outrage against Modi’s comments.

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi said on Twitter in Hindi that thousands of families lose their children due to suicide and the Prime Minister should not make fun of them.

Rahul Gandhi tweeted: “Thousands of families lose their children because of suicide. The Prime Minister should not make fun of them.”

News of suicide by a 19-year-old girl, Rashi Jain, who was preparing in Kota for the medical entrance exam, had come in barely hours before the noise of laughter from the Republic TV event where Modi spoke.

Many social media users reacted with horror. Some put out an old video that appears to show Modi laughing while purportedly speaking on the people’s miseries following the 2016 demonetisation.

Priyanka Gandhi Vadra posted a message saying: “Depression and suicide, especially among the youth, is not a laughing matter. According to NCRB (National Crime Records Bureau) data, 164,033 Indians committed suicide in 2021. Of which a huge percentage were below the age of 30.

“This is a tragedy, not a joke. The Prime Minister and those laughing heartily at his joke ought to educate themselves better and create awareness rather than ridicule mental health issues in this insensitive, morbid manner.”

Modi has been known to crack questionable jokes on unfortunate people earlier too. He had ended up mocking dyslexic students (who have difficulty reading) a few years ago while taking a dig at Rahul Gandhi during a video conference with students. When a student spoke of a project to boost the creativity of dyslexic children, Modi asked whether it would also help “children who are 40-50 years old”. When the student said it would, Modi responded: “The mothers of such children will be very happy in that case.”

In a Hindi tweet, Rashtriya Janata Dal MP Manoj Kumar Jha, incisively, noted the applause that followed Modi’s comments:

“Malaise is visible when the Prime Minister of the country tells a joke on a sensitive issue like ‘suicide’. But even more frightening is the applause and laughter after the joke. We have become a very sick society…Jai Hind.”

Shiv Sena MP Priyanka Chaturvedi shared 2021 NCRB data to show India’s numbers when it came to deaths by suicide. She also called the video triggering.

Respected PM,

I won’t share the triggering video where you cracked a joke on suicide while the audience laughed at the insensitive ‘joke’, however I’d definitely like to remind you that 2021 NCRB data shows that over 1.5 lakh Indians committed suicide, also deaths by suicide… pic.twitter.com/nWysoJSIRL

— Priyanka Chaturvedi (@priyankac19) April 27, 2023

Aam Aadmi Party tweeted through its official handle, “Imagine the insensitive disregard for human life by our Prime Minister who needs to crack a joke on suicide!?!?”

Samajwadi Party’s Gaurav Prakash cited a report from The Quint, to note that “every nine minutes a woman in India takes her own life.”

Journalists, too, have spoken on the joke.

“No aspect of insensitivity should be devoid of your indulgence,” Abhishek Baxi tweeted.

“Modi outdoes himself,” wrote Swati Chaturvedi.

BJP’s Selective Outrage on PM’s Image

The ruling party , the BJP was on Thursday, April  27, more outraged about a comment by Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge.“Modi andre, ee vishada havidhange. Neevandru, edu visha ada illa nodona swalpa nekki nodona antha nekkakka hogiri…. Nekkra satha. Illa idu visha adano illvo Modi kottana, olley manushya pradhana mantri, naavu swalpa nodona, nekki nodona antha heli aa vishavanna nekki nodidare, neevu malage bidtiralli,” Kharge had told a poll rally in Karnataka.

A translation: Modi is like a poisonous snake. Do not try licking it to confirm whether it’s poisonous. If you do it you will be dead. If you think it’s been given by Modi, a good man, the Prime Minister, so let’s lick and see, you’ll be left sleeping (you’ll be dead) there itself.

Kharge was quick to issue a clarification, asserting that he was talking about the divisive politics and hateful ideology of the RSS-BJP and not about Modi the individual. He said he had nothing personal against Modi and that the fight was against the ideology he represented. Kharge said he had suffered a lot in life and never made fun of people or launched personal attacks. But the BJP pounced on him, alleging that Kharge had revealed the mindset of the Congress.

Karnataka chief minister S.R. Bommai said the poison was in Kharge’s mind, while Union minister Anurag Thakur said “this is worse than Sonia Gandhi’s maut ka saudagar (merchant of death) comment”.

Sonia had made the comment during the 2007 Gujarat election campaign. Modi, a dab hand at playing the victim of personal vilification, had exploited the remark to seek voter sympathy. With the BJP so far on the defensive in Karnataka, the party and Modi are expected to use Kharge’s comment to divert attention from bread-and-butter issues.

Congress spokesperson Gourav Vallabh sought to undo the damage by recalling how Modi had used foul language all along, going to the extent of describing Sonia as “Congress ki vidhva (the Congress’s widow)”. But the Congress fears that its issue-based campaign might get hijacked now.

Related: 

REPLUG: Rohith Vemula, Your Sacrifice was Not in Vain

The post Suicide is no laughing matter, we have become a sick society, widespread condemnation over PM Modi’s ‘Joke’ on Suicide appeared first on SabrangIndia.

A video with disturbing visuals is doing rounds on social media. In the video, a man can be seen having died by suicide while a group of women can be seen and heard crying. As is being alleged, a Dalit sanitation worker died by suicide in gram panchayat office in BibipetMandal, Kamareddy district of Telangana. It is being alleged that the deceased was pushed to this point due to the non-payment of his salary since past after 4 months.

A large group of women can be seen sitting near the spot where the deceased’s body is still hanging. The loud cries of these women are enough to chill the bones.

The video can be viewed here:

Trigger Warning : Disturbing Visuals.

A #Dalit Sanitation worker commits suicide in gram panchayat office in #Bibipet mandal, #Kamareddy, #Telangana, after 4 months of non-payment of salaries…#Dalits #DalitLivesMatter pic.twitter.com/qhfrR5KHBF

— Hate Detector ? (@HateDetectors) March 13, 2023

Sewer and other sanitation workers’ struggles against contractorisation and poor working conditions are strongly intertwined to their struggles against a lack of state oversight for hazardous working conditions. For years now, sanitation workers forced to engage in manual scavenging have demanded an acknowledgement of their rights and proper equipment like sewage cleaning machines to do the work without endangering their lives. And now, they are being pushed to suicides due to non-payment of salaries.

Families of as many as 12 sanitation workers who have died since 2020, did not receive due compensation for their kin, reported the Times of India on March 26, 2022. The prolonged negligence and exploitation of Dalit sanitation workers is suggestive of the dynamics present in our society, in which caste determines occupation and employer-employee relations are individualised, based on patronage and oppression. 

Related:

Gujarat: 12 sanitation workers dead, but no compensation?
No death due to manual scavenging: Social Justice Minister Athawale
Protection of Manual Scavengers under the law: The real picture
Dalit man forced to enter and clean sewer in Gujarat
Dalits and Adivasis suffered violence and discrimination even in 2021
Varanasi: Sanitation worker dies after being trapped in sewer line for 18 hrs!

The post Dalit Sanitation Worker Dies by Suicide in Gram Panchayat Office in Telangana appeared first on SabrangIndia.

Citizens for Justice and peace (CJP) wrote to DGP, Tamil Nadu and SP, Villupuram raising concerns over a serious caste based crime that took place on December 23, 2022. A 19-year-old Dalit Christian boy died by suicide allegedly scared by the threats to him and his family from Vanniyar caste men, after they allegedly beat him up.

As per the residents, on December 21 as Raja and his friends were out for dinner, Raja tried to help an elderly man from Vanniyar caste to fetch some water in front of a house. However, as per Raja’s father, when the man’s son-in-law, Moorthy, opened the door and saw Raja at his doorstep, he got furious and asked how a Pariah man dared to come to his house and knock on the door. Then, Moorthy and his two friends, Mohan and Suresh, under the influence of alcohol allegedly assaulted Raja. Moorthy and others lodged a false case of bike theft on Raja to counter his complaint of assault by them.

As per the FIR, when members of Vanniyar caste tried to reach a compromise with Raja’s family and the latter refused, they were allegedly threatened by the Vanniyar men. The Vanniyar men told him that their community had 1,000 families in Surappattu while the Dalit colony had only 40 houses and threatened to set fire to the colony.

While the FIR has been lodged as per news reports, there is no news about the arrest of the accused persons. Hence, CJP, in its letter has urged that after due inquiry, the accused be arrested and that protection is provided to the family as per section 15A of the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989.

The complaint may be read here:

Related:

Review of 2022: A year of discrimination & violence experienced by India’s religious minorities

TN: Dalit youth dies by suicide after ‘upper caste’ men violently attacked him

Seeking agreed demands execution, Dalit farm workers’ rally lathicharged in Punjab

The post TN Dalit Youth Suicide: CJP seeks protection for victim’s family appeared first on SabrangIndia.

It has been four months since a Class 10 student at Delhi Public School (DPS), Greater Faridabad, died by suicide on February 24, 2022. In his final communication, the c

hild blamed fellow students and the Academic Head for his death. Yet, the mother claimed recently, that the named teacher has not only been granted bail, but may resume teaching as well.

On July 6, the mother held a virtual press conference to talk about her police complaint against the school and the negligence by authorities. According to the mother, the child was undergoing therapy due to prolonged bullying, sexual harassment and assault. Even when her son complained to the school administration, the mother claimed the teachers took no action. Instead, they accused the mother-son duo of taking undue advantage of his mental health issues.

“I was threatened that my son will be held back in his class if we continue with the complaints,” said the mother.

This violates the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act’s (POCSO Act) guidelines that mandates the reporting of any sexual offence via a School Complaints Committee. However, the mother – who used to work in the school – said the institution has no POCSO mechanism in place. She went on to say that the school has no gender sensitisation programme either.

Although the website shows a ‘Reflective workshop on gender identity, cyber navigation & wellness’, school authorities confirmed to SabrangIndia that the workshop topic changes annually.

Apathy of police

Two days after her son’s death, the mother approached the BPTP police to complain about her son’s ordeal. She talked about her son’s experiences since Class 6 and shared voice notes by her son with the police on April 11. In his last communication, the boy named the senior academic coordinator and others. The academic coordinator was arrested on February 27 by the Haryana police under Section 306, abetment of suicide.

Yet, as per the mother’s account there was no chargesheet. Moreover, the academic coordinator was subsequently granted bail. It may be noted that abetment to suicide is a non-bailable offence.

LGBTQIA+ group Yes, We Exist – which offered its support to the mother – said quoting sources that the academic coordinator “is likely to be reinstated by DPS and shall start teaching Class 11-12 students this month. Meanwhile, the mother, who was a teacher in the same school has been unlawfully terminated from her job following her child’s death.”

The mother accused the police and the Child Welfare Committee (CWC) of diluting charges and intentionally delaying the investigation to give the school sufficient time to build its defence. She also accused the police of leaking the evidence material, shared by her, with the school, as parts of it were used by the academic coordinator during her bail hearing.

SabrangIndia contacted the school regarding the details of the accused’s employment in school, and is awaiting their response. Meanwhile, the mother has been running pillar to post for the last four months.

She met Haryana Home Minister Anil Vij, Women and Child Welfare Association Panchkula, CWC Faridabad, CP Faridabad, DCP, ACP, SHO but to no avail. Although her complaint to Vij against the SIT Head resulted in new officials investigating the case, no action has been taken till now. According to Yes, We Exist, the police intend to investigate Instagram and other social media accounts of the nine students accused in the case.

“This we think is unnecessary and simply a tactic to waste time or find some material to shift the blame falsely on the boy,” said Yes, We Exist founder Jeet.

Weeks into the incident, the school claimed that most of the students named by the mother had left the place.

Dubious moves by school

Shortly after voicing her complaints about her son’s death, the mother received a letter stating she was “relieved from her services”. Similarly, the accused teacher also received a letter that said she was “temporarily relieved” from her services. This has caused considerable confusion for the mother who is the sole earning member of her family.

Although she acknowledged that she received her salary in keeping with the three months notice period clause in her contract, she said, “There is still no clarity from the school. I asked the school what do you mean by relieving me from services?”

This is not the first time the mother had complaints about the school functioning. During his therapy, the boy was diagnosed with dyslexia and as such was entitled to a writer for his exams. However, during his recent exams, the accused teacher refused to give the boy a scribe stating that he will manage.

“He was denied a scribe and he was left alone in the exam room. The teachers knew about his condition. Speaking to his friends, he had said 90 percent of problems were the school’s fault,” she said.

In a ‘Living With Dignity’ report by the International Commission of Jurists (ICJ) in 2019, Educational and training opportunities are often denied to LGBTQ persons due to harassment, bullying, and violence. While the boy never confirmed his sexual orientation, he was constantly abused with slurs merely on the suspicion that he might be gay.

Life of a non-conformist

The 15-year-old boy was interested in jewellery. His mother recalled he had asked for piercings on both his ears to test his handmade products but was scolded for this at school. The accused teacher kept him from wearing studs, although girls were allowed to wear the jewellery. The mother and son were scolded for the same.

Her mother tried to make sure there was no pressure on his mind. She requested his teachers not to scold him publicly or directly, considering his depression, but to talk to his school counsellor. Yet, it was the mother who was told to “explain” to the child. The boy also found it difficult to voice his few complaints to the female teachers. The mother also claimed that the nine accused students threatened the boy about his mother to keep him quiet.

“My child was called over-sensitive. Being abused daily cannot allow the child to “take it easy,” she said.

Worse still, the mother learnt that her colleagues shared similar experiences in their children’s lives. It is for this reason that the mother is fighting for the application of POCSO guidelines in all schools.

“Every child should know their rights… I’m glad that youths nowadays understand but there are still people who do not understand,” she said.

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I am not fully ‘woke’: Madras HC judge to start psychology sessions to understand same sex relationships

The post Haryana: DPS teacher named in teen’s suicide note to return to teach? appeared first on SabrangIndia.

Claim: Kolkata Police constable shot dead by people protesting Nupur Sharma’s comments against Prophet Mohammed

Busted! Police had confirmed that the constable shot himself dead after opening fire on passersby near the Bangladesh Deputy High Commission, killing one woman who was riding pillion on a bike and injuring two others.

In wake of an outbreak of violence at a demonstration held in Howrah, to protest derogatory comments made by former Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) spokesperson Nupur Sharma, a disturbing image started circulating on social media. It showed a crowd gathered around the corpse of a West Bengal policeman who had suffered a gun-shot wound to his head. Some social media accounts claimed that the policeman was killed by protesters, and the fake news spread like wildfire!

Luckily after police started taking action against people spreading fake news, these posts were taken down. In fact, the Kolkata Police even issued a warning against spreading hate and fake news:

pic.twitter.com/Crhhd7ipyr

— Kolkata Police (@KolkataPolice) June 12, 2022

India Today’s Fake News War Room (AFWA) and fact-checking website Alt News, both investigated the matter and discovered that he had actually died by suicide. The deceased policeman, identified as constable Choudup Lepcha, who was part of the Fifth Battalion of the Kolkata Armed Police, had actually died by suicide after opening fire with his service weapon.

The incident took place on Lower Range Road near the Bangladeshi High Commission located at Park Circus, where Lepcha was posted. He opened fire and injured at least two people, and killed one woman, identified as a physiotherapist named Reema Singh, who was passing by, riding pillion on a bike.

The actual circumstances of his death were also reported by other news media outlets including NDTV, The New Indian Express, and Hindustan Times.

NDTV filed this video report shortly after the shocking incident took place:

Praveen Kumar Tripathi, Additional Commissioner of Police, Kolkata, told The New Indian Express, “It seems Lepcha who shot himself on his neck was suffering from depression. It is yet to be ascertained whether his act was because of his mental condition.”

Kolkata Police Commissioner Vineet Kumar Goyal told Hindustan Times that Lepcha’s father had died in service in 2017, and he had therefore been recruited on compassionate grounds in 2021. He had resumed duty after a 10-day leave of absence on the day he took his life.

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Hate Buster: Why is the right wing so scared of Sai Baba of Shirdi?

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The Lucknow bench of the Allahabad high court has granted bail to former IPS officer Amitabh Thakur in the alleged suicide case of a rape victim, stated news reports. The IPS officer was arrested on August 27, 2021, after he was accused by a rape victim who died by suicide, of allegedly protecting the rape accused, BSP MP Atul Rai. He was arrested after an FIR was lodged at the Hazratganj police station by the Lucknow police.

The police has forcibly taken @Amitabhthakur without any justification/ providing reasons to the Hazratganj police station.@Uppolice @dgpup pic.twitter.com/P0AlihDpfn

— AmitabhThakur (@Amitabhthakur) August 27, 2021

On Monday, a single-judge bench of Justice Rajeev Singh granted him bail, stating, “Let applicant Amitabh Thakur be released on bail in FIR no. 309 of 2021, under Sections 120-B, 167, 195-A, 218, 306, 504, 506 of the IPC, police station Hazratganj, district Lucknow, on his furnishing personal bond of ₹20,000 and two reliable sureties each of the like amount.” 

According to the news report, the court imposed certain conditions on Thakur such as, “Applicant will not try to influence the witnesses or tamper with the evidence of the case or otherwise misuse the liberty of bail,” adding “Applicant will fully cooperate in expeditious disposal of the case and shall not seek any adjournment on the dates fixed for evidence when witnesses are present in the court. The applicant shall remain present, in person, before the trial court on the dates fixed for (a) opening of the case, (b) framing of charge; and (c) recording of statement under Section 313 CrPC.” 

Advocate Nadeem Murtaza, who appeared on behalf of Thakur told the media that while the court granted bail to Amitabh Thakur on Monday, the hearing was completed earlier and the court delivered the judgment today (Monday).” 

The case pertains to a rape victim’s FIR at the Lanka police station, Varanasi, against the accused, BSP MP Atul Rai, that was widely reported. The victim had also written to the SSP (Varanasi), accusing Amitabh Thakur of “creating false evidence in the case to save Atul Rai”. As reported by Hindustan Times, the victim and her male friend had accused Thakur and others of helping Atul Rai, on Facebook live session, before the Supreme Court, New Delhi, on August 16, 2021. The victim and her friend then immolated themselves. The man died on August 21 and the woman victim succumbed on August 24. The Facebook live session was considered to be the victim’s dying declaration. 

On March 23, 2021, Amitabh Thakur was given compulsory retirement by the union Home Ministry. He was then an Inspector General and was posted as the Joint Director Civil Defence. The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) ordered immediate voluntary retirement of 1992 batch-IPS officer Amitabh Thakur, and three others. A notice was issued to the IPS officer by the Uttar Pradesh Home Department which said that Thakur was “not suitable” to continue his services as a public servant.

Thakur, an officer of the 1992 batch who was to retire in June 2028, had himself announced that he had been retired, and shared a copy of the orders issued by the government. 

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The 17-year-old student who died by suicide in Thanjavur on January 19, 2022, has remained at the centre of heated discussions; her death has triggered a major political row in Tamil Nadu. It is now being called the “Thanjavur student suicide case” and many right wing groups have alleged that “forced conversion” was the reason behind the teen’s tragic death. 

However, on Thursday, January 27, the Thanjavur District Education Officer released a report on the Sacred Hearts Higher Secondary School in Michaelpatti in Thanjavur, where the 17-year-old studied. According to The News Minute, this report says that “in the past 10 years, there have been no complaints from students of the school over religion and that there were no religious campaigns carried out by the headmaster or any teacher at the school.” The report added that “the Chief Educational Officer and the District Education Officer had inspected the school 16 times between 2011 to 2021” and they received no complaints from the students on the basis of religion. He reportedly said, “Despite being a minority-run (Christian) institute, given that most of the students were Hindu, I hereby declare that no religious campaigns were carried out either by the school headmaster or any other teacher.” 

On January 28, a petition was submitted to Thanjavur district collector by residents of Michaelpatti village stating “that unidentified persons are coming to their village and trying to create communal disharmony”. According to reports, the villagers told officials that they “are being asked to speak against the school where the class 12 student was studying.” They added that their own children have studied in the school and there is no question of forced conversions. 

Thanjavur student suicide case:

A petition has been submitted to Thanjavur district collector by residents of Michaelpatti village saying that unidentified persons are coming to their village and trying to create communal disharmony. pic.twitter.com/RiGlZbFqek

— Shilpa (@Shilpa1308) January 28, 2022

While the right-wing eco system has fuelled its ‘campaign’ alleging that the teen was being “forced” to convert in a video, another video has now emerge where according to The News Minute, the teenager narrates that she took the extreme step “after extra work by the hostel warden made her fall behind in her studie. The teenager lived in a boarding house called Sacred Hearts Higher Secondary School in Michaelpatti in Thanjavur, “and the newly-leaked video was shot at the hospital where she was admitted before her death, by a person named Muthuvel, who is the Vishwa Hindu Parishad’s Ariyalur District Secretary” stated the news reports. The teenager does not mention the alleged conversion in this video.

According to TNM the teen in the newly-leaked video, is heard saying that the hostel warden Sagaya Mary, made her do accounting work at the hostel in addition to her studies. “The sister at the boarding would ask me to do the accounts. Even if I told her, ‘No sister, I came late, I don’t understand anything, I’ll do it later, she wouldn’t listen’. She would say, ‘It’s okay, you first do the accounts and give, then do your own work’. She will keep making me do the accounts. Even if I write it correctly, she’ll keep saying it’s wrong and make me sit on it for at least an hour. I wasn’t able to concentrate on my studies properly at all. I kept getting low marks. I thought if this keeps going on, I won’t be able to study,” Lavanya reportedly said in the video as quoted by TNM. She added, “From the time everyone wakes up, I have to open the gate, switch on the motor, after everyone has eaten, check if the motor is running properly, the warden will give me all the work…”

Here the VHP leader Muthuvel asked the teen if the hostel officials “told her not to wear a bindi or pottu,” she replies in the negative, reported TNM adding that there are a total of four videos that Muthuvel recorded on his phone on January 17, 2022, when he went to the hospital, of which two videos have already been leaked. He reportedly deleted this second video of Lavanya — which talks about her marks decreasing — from his phone, but it was later retrieved by the investigator. Only one video out of the four videos by Muthuvel has any mention of conversion, stated the news report. The video that has gone viral is the third where the teen reportedly alleged that she was being forced to convert to Christianity. 

Allegations that she “may have been tutored to talk about the conversion angle in the last video that was captured” have now risen since the new video became public. The teen in the viral video had said “two years ago, a woman called Raquel Mary” had asked her to convert to Christianity, which she and her parents refused. It was on January 15, that her parents had filed a complaint that the warden was making the teen do domestic chores and maintain account books. On January 16, “her last declaration was recorded on video by the Judicial Magistrate” reported TNM adding that after she died, the teen’s parents approached the police with the 44-second video. The 62-year-old hostel warden Sagaya Mary was arrested on January 21 and sent to judicial custody. The Madras High Court, hearing the teen’s father’s plea, had asked Muthuvel to surrender his phone to the police for investigation. 

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