Student suicide: La Martiniere principal, 3 teachers arrested

KOLKATA: Seven months after 13-year-old student Rouvanjit Rawla ended his life, the principal and three teachers of the La Martiniere School were arrested here today on charges of abetment to suicide.

Principal Sunirmal Chakravarti and three teachers, Garnian, Partho Dutta and David Raun, were arrested this morning, said Damayanti Sen, Joint Commissioner of Police (Crime).

The Class VIII student had killed himself on February 12, allegedly after being caned by the principal.

Following his death, Rounjavit's father had filed a complaint against the school principal and teachers for subjecting his son to corporal punishment.

National Commission for the Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR), an autonomous body under the Central government, had conducted an inquiry in June that found the school and the teachers guilty and had recommended suspension of the accused.

Welcoming the arrest as a "breakthrough", Rounjavit's father Ajay Rawla said he was very "grateful to god and the authorities for not letting this being swept under the floor".

"All that we are praying for is that those who tormented our child and treated him so badly should be dealt with as per law and an example must be set so that no other child is treated this way," he said.

NCPR Member Ashok Agarwal said, "There was a clear linkage between the caning of the child and the suicide committed by the child. Therefore, this (the arrest) should have happpened much earlier. It is better late than never".