A Class XI Dalit student died at his home in Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, on the day he returned to school after Puja holidays. His parents allege the boy faced severe caste-based discrimination at his government-aided school, leaving him distressed. Police have classified the death as suicide but are aggressively investigating the systemic failures at the institution.
The tragedy ignited legal action, with police invoking the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act. A senior police officer told NDTV that investigators are scrutinizing the conduct of the school principal, the class teacher, and other staff members. "We are investigating the role of the school, the principal, class teacher and any others," the officer stated, adding that arrests would follow if evidence warrants it.
Sources indicate the discrimination stemmed from the family’s caste and their food choices. The parents claimed that a section of students stopped interacting with the boy, isolating him socially. Crucially, police noted the family had raised the issue with school authorities before the boy’s death, yet intervention was minimal. The complaint was lodged only after the tragedy, shifting the focus from internal school management to criminal liability.
This incident follows a pattern of caste-based abuse in Coimbatore’s educational institutions. Last year, a private school principal was suspended for allegedly forcing a menstruating Dalit girl to take her exam on the stairs outside her classroom. The Coimbatore police are now examining the specific circumstances of this death to determine if negligence or active persecution contributed to the student’s demise.