'Harassed' Inter boy hangs self in college in Telangana

HYDERABAD: A first-year Intermediate student of a prominent private residential college in Narsingi on city outskirts hanged himself in the college on Tuesday night due to alleged harassment by the staff. According to cops, 16-year-old Nagula Sathwik hanged himself inside the classroom at Sri Chaitanya Junior Kalasala around 10.30 pm. A resident of Shadnagar, the student from a BC community had joined the junior college a year ago.
Based on his father Nagula Raja Prasad's complaint, police registered a criminal case against three - Acharya (vice-principal), Krishna Reddy (admin principal) and Naresh (warden) - under IPC Section 305 (abetment of suicide) and took one person into custody. Later in the day, a note was found circulating in social media purported to be Sathwik's suicide letter addressed to parents apologising for his action. Police, however, said that they are verifying its authenticity.
As he sat resolute outside the college premises on Wednesday demanding justice, Sathwik's older brother Mithun alleged his teenage brother and his friends had been put through constant humiliation and corporal punishment.
"In fact, Sathwik had to be hospitalised a couple of months ago as he had taken ill because of the immense pressure built on him by the staff," Mithun said. His family members said they were planning to shift Sathwik to some other college in Inter second-year because of it.
"Sathwik spent about 12 to 15 days in hospital. He was scared of his vice-principal and staff - Acharya and Krishna Reddy - as they used to punish him at the drop of a hat," Mithun told TOI. He claimed the management discriminated against him for his caste and class and targeted him even more after the family confronted them over the harassment.
"When we questioned them about the excessive pressure, the management told us Sathwik needs to be scared to do well in his studies. Though they promised to not punish him, they never stopped," Mithun said.
Dream was to secure a seat in IIT, says family
According to his family and friends, Sathwik was a bright child who scored 9.8 in class 10. "My son wanted to secure a seat in IIT. He was bright and would have scaled great heights had we not lost him because of the management. All we want now is justice," said his mother, Alivelu. Recollecting the last conversation with her son around 8.30pm on Tuesday, she said Sathwik assured her he was fine and would go for study hours after dinner.
The family claimed boy was scared as staff often threatened students with issuing TC if they shared the goings-on of the college with parents.
But his father Raja Prasad had sensed some distress when he met Sathwik on Tuesday night - hours before he hanged himself. Prasad had come to give him medicine for a skin problem. "He was not his usual self. Sathwik even complained to me about food and that he was unable to eat. He told me that Acharya, Krishna Reddy, and Naresh (a staff member) had been scolding and beating him frequently for not doing well in studies. He expressed unwillingness to continue in college. I asked him to focus and promised to shift him to another college next year," said Prasad.
Covid caused gaps in learning: Management
The college management vehemently denied all charges of harassment. In her statement, Sushma Boppana, academic director of Sri Chaitanya Educational Institutions stated: " Covid-19 pandemic forced students to adapt to new learning environments, which led to some experiencing learning gaps and difficulties keeping up with regular study habits. We recognise these changes have caused some students to feel stressed. However, we want to assure everyone that our team is working diligently to provide necessary support and motivation to students so that they can perform to the best of their abilities."
According to his friends, Sathwik was punished several times by Acharya and Krishna Reddy. "They used to beat him for wearing shorts, coming a few minutes late to class or from an outing and sleeping in the class when he was sick. He was taunted for failing an exam. When he showed his answer scripts and proved he passed all exams and that the error happened at the college's end while entering his marks, Acharya reprimanded him even more," said his friend.
Some other students claimed to have been subjected to corporal punishment and humiliation that at times left them bleeding.