Bangalore:
Two teen girls were found dead in a water tank in Bangalore on Tuesday afternoon after they were punished by teachers for playing Holi within their school's premises on Monday.
The students who allegedly committed suicide were enrolled in Class 9 and 10 of a private school. One was 16; the other was 15. In a letter, the girls have blamed the school principal for accusing them of underperformance.
On Tuesday morning, they were reportedly made to stand outside the principal's office as punishment.
Bangalore Police Commissioner Raghavendra Auradkar said the students used the ties from their school uniform to tie their hands together before jumping into the tank.
A security guard spotted their school bags lying near the tank and alerted the police. The suicide note was recovered from one of their school bags.
"They were found to have committed suicide by drowning themselves in the tank. It's a very very sad incident. On a small chit, they have written that their teachers had made them to stand outside the class questioning the performance. They were told that their performance is not satisfactory and that their parents will be called to the school and communicated about their non-performance," said Mr Auradkar.
Relatives of the girls who have died protested at the school on Wednesday, demanding action against authorities.
The National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) said it has asked its Karnataka branch to conduct a detailed investigation into whether the alleged suicides were linked to unnecessarily harsh admonishments by the school.
"As a matter of policy, I want to make it clear that the commission does not tolerate any violation of child rights and I think no school has the right to punish a child to such an extent that the child is compelled to commit suicide," said Kushal Singh, Chairperson, NCPCR.