Teenage girl hangs herself in school; principal held after suicide note claims molestation
Jashpur (PTI): A 15-year-old girl allegedly committed suicide by hanging herself in the study room of a private school after accusing the principal of molesting and sexually harassing her in Chhattisgarh's Jashpur district, officials said on Monday.
The principal was arrested after the class 9 student allegedly used a saree to hang herself from a rod of the ceiling on Sunday evening.
The school is located in a village under the Bagicha police station limits, Jashpur Senior Superintendent of Police Shashimohan Singh said, adding that the deceased was a resident of the Sitapur area in neighbouring Surguja district.
Police found a suicide note at the spot, which accused the school principal, Kuldipan Topno, of molestation and sexual harassment, following which he was arrested, the police officer said.
A case was registered, and further investigation is underway, he added.o
A joint team comprising officials of the education, tribal, and police departments conducted an inquiry following the incident.
Preliminary findings revealed that the hostel on the school campus was unauthorised, officials said.
"Of the 124 students enrolled from classes 6 to 12 in the school, a total of 22 boys and 11 girls were staying in the hostel, which was allegedly being operated without mandatory permissions. All relevant documents have been seized," said Assistant Commissioner of the Tribal Department, Sanjay Singh.
A magisterial inquiry has been ordered. The exact cause behind the incident will be ascertained only after the investigation, said Bagicha Sub-Divisional Magistrate Pradeep Rathiya.
(Assistance for overcoming suicidal thoughts is available on the state’s health helpline 104, Tele-MANAS 14416.)
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FM Sitharaman launches 'VijAIpatha' labs in govt schools in Karnataka
Hampi (PTI): Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Saturday launched Cyient AI Labs (CyAILS) -- 'VijAIpatha', aimed at democratising access to Artificial Intelligence, STEM and Robotics education in government schools here.
In a series of posts on 'X', the minister's office shared pictures of the initiative launched at a girl's government school in Hosapete taluk and said that under the pilot phase, five world-class AI, STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) and Robotics laboratories are being established in government schools.
Each lab will be equipped with high-performance computers, AI-ready software, robotics kits, IoT devices, sensors and secure broadband connectivity.
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"Aligned with NEP 2020, Digital India and Hon'ble Prime Minister @narendramodi's mission of Viksit Bharat 2047, the programme integrates CBSE's AI curriculum and strengthens technology-enabled learning in public education," it said.
Focusing on rural and semi-urban India, the initiative introduces future technologies at the school level, helping build early digital fluency, computational thinking and innovation capacity among students, the minister's office said.
"Benefiting over 2,000 students and training more than 200 teachers, 'VijAIpatha' is a scalable CSR model fostering innovation, career readiness and grassroots digital empowerment," it added.
According to the office, the initiative has been designed as a scalable, replicable and sustainable model that can be adopted across districts and states in collaboration with government education departments, positioning it as a benchmark CSR model for a national AI education rollout.
