GHAZIABAD: A 17-year-old Class 12 girl died by suicide at her Vaishali home, days after she allegedly faced bullying, public humiliation and threats from a classmate and his family. An FIR has now been lodged against the classmate, his parents and brother for abetment.The girl, who studied at a private English-medium school in Delhi’s Anand Vihar, was found hanging in her room on Aug 24. No suicide note was recovered, and her parents did not lodge a police complaint either.It was only after examining her mobile phone and WhatsApp chats that the family learnt that a classmate had allegedly been harassing her for days. The girl had also stopped attending school three days before her death, but her parents did not sense anything amiss.On Saturday, her father approached police with a complaint alleging that his daughter had been subjected to “bullying, social exclusion, abuse, humiliation and harassment”.The complaint followed a meeting with the school principal on Sept 7, when the father sought help from the management in establishing the sequence of events leading to his daughter’s death. The principal allegedly handed him a pen drive containing videos related to the episode.The father referred to one clip in particular, which purportedly showed the classmate and his parents on a call with the victim.According to the complaint, the boy was heard and seen misbehaving with the girl, pressuring her to apologise to his parents in connection with an earlier incident and threatening to “teach her a lesson” and harm her family if she did not comply.The father said the exchange indicated “considerable pressure, intimidation and mental harassment”.The classmate’s brother allegedly recorded the video.Police said audio, video clips and WhatsApp chats collected so far suggested that the girl had earlier distanced herself from the accused classmate and joined another group. The classmate had even insulted her in front of other students after that.According to cops, the accused student did not stop at that. He allegedly posted obscene remarks about the girl on the school’s WhatsApp group, leaving her humiliated. She subsequently stopped attending classes.So, why did the tension escalate between the two students?A senior police officer said the dispute started with a video in which the girl was seen and heard using “inappropriate” words about her classmate’s mother.“The video was uploaded on the school’s WhatsApp group. It was then that her classmate confronted her on WhatsApp and demanded an apology, involving his parents. The conversation and video was recorded by the suspect’s brother and later sent to the school WhatsApp group,” he added.Suryabali Maurya, ACP (Indirapuram), said an FIR was registered against the student, his parents and brother for abetment of suicide under Section 108 of BNS.“The case is being investigated on the basis of evidence. Soon, we will speak to other classmates as well. Statements of several people, including teachers at the school, will be recorded too. After that, further action will be taken,” Marya said.
