'No proof of ragging': Kerala school on suicide

THE MOTHER HAS ALLEGED THAT HER SON WAS FORCED TO LICK THE TOILET SEAT AND HIS HEAD PUSHED INSIDE WHILE IT WAS FLUSHED

- Vishnu Varma

KOCHI: Even as the police probe into the circumstances leading to the suicide of a 15-year-old student in Kochi is underway, the private school, where he studied for the past three months, has claimed that there is "no evidence or eyewitnesses" to the alleged incidents of ragging and bullying that he endured at the institution.

The case came to light after the family of the boy, who reportedly jumped to death from the 26th floor of his apartment in Thripu-nithura, shot off letters to the chief minister's office and DGP alleging that the teenager endured "relentless ragging and bullying" at the hands of a gang of students at the school and on the school bus.

The mother, in a social media post, alleged that her son was forced to lick the toilet seat and his head pushed inside while it was flushed. The allegations prompted a probe by a special team of the police and a parallel inquiry by the general education department.

On Tuesday, the school released a detailed statement in which it claimed that it got complaints about the alleged ragging only after the student's demise and it took no action as there was "no evidence or eyewitnesses" to the incident.