Ranchi: Girl student who self-immolated after teacher asked her to undress on suspicion of hiding chits succumbs to injuries

Seven days after a Class IX girl who tried to self-immolate in Jamshedpur, Ranchi, allegedly for being forced by her teacher to take off her clothes on the suspicion that she was hiding chits during examination, succumbed to her burn injuries on Thursday, October 20. The girl had sustained 80 per cent burn injuries, following which, she was admitted to Tata Memorial Hospital in Jamshedpur, as stated in a report by The New Indian Express. 

According to the police, the girl in her statement said that the invigilator humiliated her and made her put off her clothes to check if she was hiding the chits in her uniform. The teacher was arrested soon after the incident and a case has been registered under suitable sections of IPC and the POCSO Act. 

Other girls studying in the school had alleged that the teacher usually misbehaved with the students. "Even though no chit was recovered from Ritu, she was forced to pull off her clothes in front of the entire class due to which, she was deeply hurt and possibly took this extreme step," said one of her classmates, Neha. Ritu was first beaten up by the teacher and then asked to pull off her clothes, she added. 

The mother of the girl also alleged that her daughter tried to end her life and set herself on fire immediately after coming home from school as she couldn't bear the humiliation in front of her classmates. Meanwhile, different women's rights groups staged protests in Jamshedpur ransacking the premises of the school and District Education Superintendent office demanding immediate dismissal of the teacher.