In a shocking case, a Class 10 student of a private school in Hyderabad died by suicide after her labourer parents could now clear her fee dues. The school staff was allegedly pressurising Yashaswini, 15, to pay up Rs 3,000 dues.
The parents said she was depressed as she was unable to continue her studies. As the school staff was reportedly making her call her father for fee, she stopped going to school.
Her parents told the police that when they returned home from work on Thursday evening, they found the house at Kakatiyanagar in Neredmet locked from inside. As there was no response to the repeated knocks, they broke the door latch to find her hanging by a rope.
On a complaint by the girl's family, Neredmet police station under the Rachakonda police commissionerate registered a case of death under suspicious circumstances and took up investigation. Police said there was no suicide note.
"Due to financial problems, the parents couldn't pay the fee. She apparently felt depressed and took the extreme step," said Neredmet Inspector A Narasimha Swamy. The police official, however, said the girl's parents have not complained of harassment by the school.
The girl's parents said they had paid Rs 15,000 as a fee despite the loss of earnings during the lockdown and had promised to clear the dues later. They alleged that their daughter stopped going to school due to the humiliation she was facing.
Schools in Hyderabad and the rest of Telangana for Classes ninth and above reopened on February 1, after nearly 10 months due to the Covid pandemic.