Bengaluru: After spending more than two weeks seeking the reinstatement of her suspended class 10 son, a woman allegedly attempted to end her life on the premises of a private school on Bengaluru’s St John’s Road Monday.Sumithra, a homemaker from Ulsoor, allegedly consumed insecticide inside the washroom of the school after weeks of pleading with the management to revoke the suspension of her son. She is currently undergoing treatment at a hospital.According to her husband, Kannan, an electrician, the couple had been making repeated visits to the school for over 15 days after their son was suspended following a physical altercation on June 13 with a class 9 student outside the school gates. What began as a trivial fight left both boys injured, with the younger student suffering a head injury that required hospitalisation, a CT scan, and treatment costing around Rs 10,000. A medicolegal case was registered at Bharathinagar police station before the two families eventually reached a compromise.The suspension, however, remained. For Sumithra, every visit to the school ended the same way.“She would go every couple of days and plead with the principal. But she was treated very badly there. They would mentally harass her by speaking in a condescending tone, make her wait in a dark room and threaten to never allow our son back into classes,” Kannan alleged.With her son studying in class 10 — a stage many parents view as crucial for a child’s academic future — the uncertainty weighed heavily on her, he said.On Monday, after yet another unsuccessful meeting with the school authorities, Sumithra allegedly told her husband she needed to use the washroom. Unknown to him, she had carried a bottle of insecticide from her home gardening kit. “When she came out, I noticed something strange dripping from her mouth. When I asked her what it was, she told me she had consumed insecticide,” Kannan said.He rushed her to Bowring Hospital in Shivajinagar, but since no ICU bed was available, she was shifted to a private hospital. “The doctors have said it will take at least three days before they can tell us if she is stable,” he added.The family also alleged that no one from the school visited the hospital or contacted them to enquire about Sumithra’s condition.“We later heard from other parents that the school was ready to allow our son back into class from July 1. But we’ve still not received any official communication,” Kannan said.He alleged that the incident reflects a broader pattern since a recent change in the school’s administration. “Even for trivial matters, students are suspended. We want people to know how schools can hold so much power over parents and students after we place our trust in them for our children’s future,” he said.A senior police officer said: “Following the son’s problems at school, the mother tried to take her own life by consuming insecticide. Fortunately, she’s now out of danger. We’ve also interacted with the school management, who have agreed to take the student back. A case of attempt to suicide has been registered.”
