Student`s suicide: School guilty, says NCPCR

The Child rights body held La Martiniere responsible for suicide of Rouvanjit Rawla.

Zeenews Bureau

Kolkata: Class VIII student Rouvanjit Rawla was driven to suicide by his school, La Martiniere, the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights has concluded in its report.

The top boys school of Kolkata has further been damned as not being child-friendly what with regular child beatings.

The reveals that the Principal of La Martiniere School for Boys admitted to caning Rawla. Reportedly, Principal Sunirmal Chakravarthy is unrepentant, and even confessed to Kolkata Bishop Ashok Biswas - who heads the Church of North India (CNI) that runs the school.

Rouvanjit committed suicide on Febuary 12, 2010, by hanging himself. A class 8 student, Rouvanjit was forced to take this drastic step after months of humiliation, allegedly at the hands of his teachers.

The report is yet to be submitted in New Delhi.

Rouvanjit`s family has filed a complaint against four teachers and principal Sunirmal Chakravarti, accusing them of misbehaving with their son and torturing him.

West Bengal School Education Minister Partha Dey on Friday said, “The State Government is unable to take any action against the Principal of La Martiniere Boys` School, for the caning and humiliation of 13-year-old student Rouvanjit, who committed suicide.”

Interacting with media, Dey also said that the Government`s hands are tied and the only available recourse for the future, is to set up an authority under the Right to Education Act to safeguard the interests of children in schools.

"An authority can be set up under a State Act. It can supercede the schools with minority status, and parents teachers can complain before authorities," Dey added.

ANI inputs

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