The tragic tale behind a student's suicide in Tirunelveli

A Class XII student ended his life by hanging himself at a railway bridge on a State highway here on Wednesday. In his suicide note, he spoke about the harassment he had suffered at the hands of his drunkard father.

When M. Dinesh Nallasivan, 17, of K. Reddiyarpatti near Kurukkalpatti in Tirunelveli district lost his mother Pappammal nine years ago, his father Madasamy, an alcoholic, married again. Neglected by his father and his newly wedded wife, Dinesh took the support of his Madurai-based uncle Sankara Kutralam alias Mani to continue his education. He joined a government school at Namakkal, where he studied up to Class 12.

The boy would rarely visit his home village, even during holidays.

After finishing his Class 12, however, he did come home but soon left for Chennai to work in a teashop since conditions in his house were not welcoming. In between work hours at the teashop, he was preparing for NEET that was scheduled to be held on May 6.

His relatives brought him back to K. Reddiyarpatti assuring him that they would support him. They encouraged him to prepare for NEET from home. Unfortunately, Madasamy’s attitude towards his son did not change. He continued to harass him under the influence of alcohol. When the drunkard father took the money Dinesh had earned from the teashop job in Chennai and bought liquor, the poor teen could not digest it.

After telling his relatives that he was going to nearby Kayathar in Thoothukudi district to meet his relatives, the boy came to Palayamkottai on Tuesday evening and hanged himself from the railway bridge on the South Bypass on Wednesday early morning. He left a suicide note.

Striking a chord

When those who went for the morning stroll along this busy road saw the hanging body of the medicine aspirant with a backpack, they broke down. Those who stopped their vehicle at the spot shed tears on coming to know about the contents of the suicide note purportedly left behind by the victim.

“Appa, you should not drink at least after my death… Since you are drinking, you should not perform the last rites for me… should not tonsure your head… Mani Appa (Dinesh’s close relative) should perform the last rites for me and that is my last wish… I’ll enter heaven only if you stop drinking,” said the suicide note.

The boy poured out his anger over the State government running liquor shops. “The Indian Prime Minister and the Tamil Nadu Chief Minister should close down the liquor shops at least now… Else, my spirit will destroy the liquor shops,” the suicide note says. In his pocket diary in the backpack, the boy had written his name as “Dinesh MBBS, MD”.

After the post-mortem was conducted at Tirunelveli Medical College Hospital, the body was sent to K. Reddiyarpatti at 2.50 p.m.