Noida student suicide: Accused teachers didn’t grade student’s papers, police say

NOIDA: Parents of the Class IX student who committed suicide at her home in Noida last Tuesday, told a Delhi government team that visited them on Friday to expedite the probe against teachers of Ahlcon Public School.
The parents have accused the principal and a science teacher of harassment and a social science teacher of inappropriately touching the girl student. Noida police have filed charges of abetment to suicide and sexual assault against the three under sections of the IPC as well as the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act.

Arun Kumar Singh, SP (city) Noida, said on Friday police had not found any evidence yet that corroborated allegations of sexual assault. Investigations have also found that Ahlcon had coded the Class IX students’ answer sheets and distributed them for evaluation to different teachers. “Preliminary investigation shows student’s answer sheets were evaluated by other teachers and not the two accused named in the FIR. These teachers’ signatures were not found as undersigned evaluators,” said Noida police chief Ajay Pal Sharma.

Ekisha’s mother Deepmala Nutan pointed out on Friday though her daughter’s Class IX report card had mentioned in the teacher’s remark that the girl was an excellent dancer, the student was still given a ‘B’ grade in art education (that comprises dance). “Some students whom she taught dance to got an ‘A’ in art education. This shows teachers intentionally gave her low marks in all papers, and failed her in science and social sciences, breaking her morale,” she said. Her parents are Kathak dancers and she too was well trained.

In a press conference earlier in the week, Ahlcon principal Dharemendra Goyal, one of the three teachers booked, had denied all the charges.

The Delhi government is conducting a separate probe. A team from the directorate of education visited student’s house in Sector 52 on Friday and spoke to her parents for nearly 40 minutes. The team was headed by a deputy director and comprised two women members. The officials said they would question the teachers and submit a report to the department.

The Delhi Commission for Protection of Child Rights (DCPCR) has also sought a report from Ahlcon and written to the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR), urging it to intervene.