Chhattisgarh school girl commits suicide after accusing teacher of harassment
Ambikapur (PTI): A 12-year-old girl allegedly committed suicide by hanging herself at home in Chhattisgarh's Surguja district after accusing a woman teacher from her school of harassing her, police said on Thursday.
The accused teacher was arrested on Wednesday based on a suicide note found in the victim's room, City Superintendent of Police (Ambikapur) Smruthik Rajnala said.
The Class 6 student of a private school was found hanging from the ceiling in a room of her house in Darripara area under Manipur police station limits late Tuesday night, he said.
A suicide note was found in the room in which the girl accused the teacher of harassing her, he said.
"A forensic team collected evidence from the spot and the post-mortem was conducted. Statements of the girl's parents, students and teachers of the school were recorded. The suicide note was examined by a handwriting expert," he said.
Based on the investigation, the teacher was booked under Indian Penal Code section 305 (abetment of suicide of child), the official said adding that further investigation was underway.
In the suicide note written in English and dated February 6, the girl claimed the ID cards of her and her two friends were snatched by the teacher.
"My friends told me that she is dangerous and she (will) take you to headmistress and also call your parents. I was scared and decided to kill myself," she wrote, while holding the teacher responsible for the extreme step.
The girl also requested that her friends be saved from getting punished.
The deceased's father, a government officer, told reporters that he was on a two-day visit to Raipur and his daughter spoke to him over a video call at 6.30 pm (on Tuesday) but did not tell him anything.
"She wrote on the suicide note please don't give punishment to my friends," he said and alleged that teachers at the school tortured the students
He also claimed that when his daughter was in the nursery class, another teacher harassed and thrashed her after he spoke to her about not teaching properly.
"My daughter stopped telling me about the harassment as whenever parents visit school to speak to teachers over some issues, the next day teachers take revenge and torture students," he said.
"Please save the students. They are innocent," he added.
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Maharashtra sets up state vaccination task force to strengthen immunisation programme
Mumbai (PTI): The Maharashtra government has set up a State Vaccination Task Force to strengthen the regular immunisation programme and review the progress of related campaigns, a health department official said on Monday.
The State Vaccination Task Force will comprise at least 29 members and will be headed by the administrative head of the health department, he informed.
The government has also constituted separate district-level and municipal vaccination task forces to improve implementation and address challenges at the grassroots level, he said.
Municipal task forces, chaired by respective civic commissioners, have been constituted in view of the vast urban population in Maharashtra and the role of civic bodies in implementing different health programmes.
The district-level task forces will function under the chairmanship of collectors.
"Complete immunisation of children at the appropriate age is an extremely simple, cost-effective and highly effective measure to reduce child mortality and the prevalence of diseases among kids. Immunisation is a powerful tool for reducing illness in children," maintained the official.
To ensure full vaccination of all children, the state government implements various campaigns from time to time as per the central government guidelines, he pointed out.
"Active participation and cooperation of other relevant government departments are essential (in making these campaigns successful)," according to the official.
The state-level body will review the regular immunisation programme, associated campaigns and vaccine-preventable diseases in detail. It will also conduct focused assessments of high-risk districts and municipal corporations, including vacancies at district, municipal and sub-district levels, availability of cold chain equipment, resource gaps and training requirements, he noted.
The state task force will review allocation and utilisation of funds for immunisation and ensure timely action by officers concerned based on reports from district and municipal task forces and state-level monitoring mechanisms, the official said.
It will also ensure active coordination and participation of other government departments in immunisation drives, while district and municipal task forces will carry out similar functions at their respective levels, the official added.
