"Humiliated" Over Fees, Hyderabad Class 10 Student Dies By Suicide

A Class 10 student in Hyderabad, stopped from attending classes for not paying her school fees, died by suicide on Thursday, the police say.

The girl, the daughter of daily wage labourers, was found hanging at her house yesterday. She had refused to go to school, her parents said.

The parents said they had paid a part of the Rs 37,000 they owed as fees, and that they had told the school they would pay the rest later this month.

"Despite losing our earnings due to the lockdown, we had managed to pay around Rs 15,000 to the school. We told them we would pay by 20th," said girl's father.

He claimed that the school management had pressured his daughter, humiliated her and forced her to call him repeatedly to ask for the money.

"They made my daughter call me up 2-3 times in the last few days. My daughter didn't want to go to school yesterday. She told me to tell the teacher she had gone to hospital as she did not want to face them. The teachers were making her call me and put pressure to pay," he said.

The girl was reportedly denied entry by the school authorities, who allegedly told her she could not attend classes until the entire fee was paid.

"School fees has claimed my child. We had said we would pay by the 20th. I don't know what kind of humiliation my child was subjected to, she killed herself," cried her mother.

A case has been filed against the school management, the police said.

"We have filed a case against school Management based on parents' complaint and will be investigating their role," said Inspector Narsimha Swamy.

"No suicide note had been found and further investigation was underway," he added.