Principal of a government school in Sonebhadra committed suicide after being harassed by a teacher. The accused teacher and her associates not just threatened the victim to mark her attendance as `present’ but when the principal refused to do so, they lodged a case of molestation just to blackmail the victim.
Reports said that 54-year-old Awadh Bali, a native of Chunar in Mirjapur district, was principal in Aarandi Junior High School in Sonebhadra district. On Wednesday evening, Bali committed suicide by consuming poison in front of Renukapar Kedia College. He was found lying in unconscious state after which he was rushed to hospital by the passerby but the doctors pronounced him dead upon arrival. The family members informed the police who rushed to the spot and on taking search, recovered a suicide note from his pocket in which the victim cited the reason for taking extreme step.
Bali accused Shewta Gupta, a teacher in his school along with Block Education Officer of Chopan, Sunil Singh, another education department official, Manish Srivastava, and one more teacher Hem Lata, for forcing him to end his life. Bali claimed that Shewta Gupta, mostly remained absent from the college and tried to pressurise him to mark `present’. In his suicide note, he alleged that Singh and Srivastava along with Hem Lata, all support Gupta and issued him threat with dire consequences if he will not mark Gupta as `present’ in the attendance register. He said that when he refused, Gupta lodged a on-line case of molestation against him on last Monday and tried to blackmail him. They asked him either to mark `present’ or they will get him arrested on charges of sexual abuse. Bali claimed that he was so upset with his character assisnation that he found no other way then to commit suicide so he took poison.
Reports said that after learning of the facts through suicide note, the family members as well as parents of the students of the school staged a huge demonstration after which the local police registered a case of abetment to suicide against all the above four accused but so far no one was arrested.
Meanwhile the teacher, who assaulted a 11-year-old girl, studying in class fourth in a convent school at Ballia, was arrested on Thursday. The move was made after autopsy test report confirmed the allegations of the family members. ``The post-mortem examination report of the victim showed two injury marks on her head which pointed that she was assaulted which led to her death” confirmed Superintendent of police in Ballia, Anil Kumar, on Thursday morning. He said that on basis of the report, they moved ahead and arrested the teacher, Rajni Upadhya. She was later sent to jail.
It may be mentioned that victim, studying in Sant Xaivers School at Ballia, was said to be slapped by her teacher in the class room on last Monday. The teacher assaulted the girl after the victim failed to give answer to a query and had not done her homework. The victim reportedly told the incident to her family when she regained conscious in the hospital where she was admitted after she fainted in the school. The family members of the victim not reported the matter to anyone but the incident took an ugly turn when the condition of the victim suddenly deteriorated and she finally died on Wednesday morning.
The family members took the body and kept it in front of college and staged a blockade demanding action against the college authorities. Later senior officers who reached the spot got a FIR registered against the teacher, identified as Rajni Upadhyay, on charges of culpable homicide and voluntarily causing hurt to the victim.