Teacher, who felt guilty of escalating seven Nepali students, commits suicide in India

DEHRADUN: A 25-year-old teacher committed suicide at Sakya Academy, based in Dehradun of India, from where seven students had escaped last week alleging beating by one of the teachers, police have begun investigating the suicide note left behind by the teacher that says he felt responsible for the matter getting out of hand and the school falling into disrepute.

The teacher being a Nepal citizen, the Nepali embassy has been informed.

“From his suicide note, we believe he hanged himself out of guilt. He has also recorded a voice note on his mobile phone, which is in his native tongue, and we are in the process of translating.

Currently, it seems we can expect no major revelations from it apart from what we already know,” said Rakesh Shah, in-charge of the Rajpur Police Station.

Police are also verifying the students’ claims, who said in a video that they were beaten up when they wanted to go home for the festive season.

Between October 27 and 28, seven Nepal-origin students had fled the school by taking a cab to Banbasa.

While four managed to reach home in India and Nepal, three were stopped at Banbasa check point and brought back to school.

The deceased teacher was one of the teachers who went to Banbasa to bring back the trio.

According to Times of India, the teacher, who taught Buddhist Studies, shut himself in his room and subsequently hanged himself.

In a suicide note and a voice recording that he left behind, the teacher said he had been feeling responsible for the allegations of physical abuse levelled against his senior colleague by the students.

He also confessed to have kept a mobile phone with him against the rules of the school.

Police are investigating whether the pictures and videos of the escaped students had gone viral from the teacher’s phone.

To recall, the pictures and videos of the students, some showing bruises on their bodies and accusing their teacher of assault, had gone viral last week. The matter had also caught the attention of the state child rights panel, which had demanded a probe.

(With inputs from TOI)