Chennai: Taunted obese' teen ends life

Chennai: A 16-year-old girl on Thursday committed suicide at her residence after being shamed for being overweight at school, police officials say.

The girl, who was a plus -1 student at a girls’ government school, resided in Ranga Nagar in Chromepet with her family to whom she would complain endlessly about how her friends in school teased her and how she was upset by it. “She would even cry about not wanting to go to school because of it,” police sources informed.

Matter escalated early Thursday morning when the girl, whose room was on a different floor from the rest of her family, set herself ablaze. Her parents immediately called the 108 ambulance services and the girl was rushed to Kilpauk Medical College Hospital. However, she suffered severe burn injuries and died from it this morning.

After a preliminary investigation, police found that the girl’s mother had visited her school twice and enquired with the teachers about her daughter’s constant complaints. The teachers had convinced her that the matter was not serious, both times and that the girls were all just making fun of each other playfully.

The headmistress of the school denied any knowledge of such complaints from the girl and teachers insisted that the bullying did not coax the girl into committing suicide. A case has been registered at the Shankar Nagar police station and further investigations are underway.