Ghaziabad: A Class 7 student allegedly fell to her death from the 10th floor of Gulmohur Greens society in Sahibabad. While police are probing whether the girl died by suicide, her family has blamed the school management and her mathematics teacher, alleging that the 13-year-old had been repeatedly harassed and ridiculed in front of classmates over the past three months for her performance in the subject. On Monday, the school administration said they had suspended a teacher and instituted an internal investigation.On Sept 26 evening, the girl stepped out of her flat on the 10th floor of the housing society around 5.30 pm for a break after informing her mother. Soon afterwards, the tower’s security guard and a few neighbours informed her that the teenager had fallen from the common area hallway and sustained severe injuries.A neighbour, who is a medical practitioner, gave the girl cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) on the spot before she was taken to Narinder Mohan Hospital & Heart Centre in Mohannagar, but she died during treatment.While the family had yet to submit a formal complaint against the school management or any teacher, they claimed that the teenager had scored low marks in a recent internal mathematics examination and was pulled up by the teacher in front of the whole class on Sept 25, a day before she took the extreme step.A relative told TOI that the mathematics teacher had displayed the teenager’s answer sheet in front of the entire class, which had deeply troubled her. The relative claimed that on several pages in a diary, the girl had made notes on her fears about the “maths teacher” and the deep sense of humiliation.According to the family, the teenager scored 80-90 in most of the subjects, but her performance in mathematics had slumped, and she blamed the teacher for scoring her poorly. They claimed that the girl may have been too distressed to go to school and face the teacher on Monday.The family also claimed they had raised the issue with the school’s management in a parent-teacher meeting in July, but the teacher’s behaviour towards the girl had only worsened afterwards.Trans-Hindon DCP Rijual said police did not find any note during preliminary inspection, nor had her family shared any “diary” where the minor had blamed her teacher for harassment. Her body was cremated after an autopsy, the officer said.A spokesperson of the private school, meanwhile, told TOI that the school, as a policy, did not tolerate any form of harassment, mistreatment or inappropriate behaviour towards any student under any circumstances. “The safety, dignity, mental and emotional well-being of our students remain among the school’s highest priorities. Considering the seriousness of the matter, the school management has, as a precautionary measure and in the interest of transparency, suspended a teacher until the completion of the investigation,” the spokesperson said, adding that its management had started an internal investigation.—With input from Ayantika Pal
