‘Ridiculed for eating beef’: 16-year-old Tamil Nadu boy dies by suicide after harassment by classmates and teacher

A 16-year-old Scheduled Caste student in Class XI at a government-aided school died by suicide on Wednesday at his residence in Peelamedu, Coimbatore, allegedly due to harassment over beef consumption by two classmates and a teacher, TOI reported.

Following the incident, the Peelamedu police registered a case against class teacher Vijayakumar, headmaster Arun Kumar, and two students from Shri K K Naidu Higher Secondary School on Avinashi Road, charging them with abetment of suicide and related offenses.

The deceased was identified as A. Akilan, son of Ashok Kumar, a laundry manager at a Munnar resort, and Kousalya Devi, a domestic worker.


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Kousalya discovered her son hanging from the bedroom ceiling upon returning from work around 1:00 PM on Wednesday. She alerted the authorities, who subsequently transferred the body to the ESI Government Medical College Hospital for a postmortem.

According to Kousalya’s complaint, the harassment originated a few months prior when the class teacher, while registering Scheduled Caste students for a scholarship scheme, inquired who in the class consumed beef. Akilan and one other student raised their hands. Following this, two classmates reportedly began harassing and physically assaulting Akilan while making derogatory references to his caste. Kousalya noted that despite Akilan raising complaints with both the teacher and the headmaster, neither took any corrective action.

The police filed the case under Sections 115(2) and 108 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), along with Section 3(2)(v) of the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, and have launched an official inquiry.

Akilan’s parents and relatives staged a protest outside the police station on Wednesday evening, seeking a thorough investigation and the immediate arrest of the teacher and headmaster. As of Thursday night, the postmortem had not been performed, and the body remained at the hospital.

“He (Akilan) wanted to become an advocate. The school management and the teacher are responsible for my son’s death. We need justice for him,” Kumar said.

Deputy Commissioner of Police Thangadurai stated that investigations are currently being conducted at the police commissioner level, alongside a concurrent inquiry by the Child Welfare Committee.