Kerala: Family meets DGP, over teacher's suicide, seeks probe

Kollam: The family of Sreedevi teacher, the principal with a school in Kollam, who had committed suicide allegedly subjected to mental torture by parents for penal action taken against the students, demands police investigation into the issue. Her husband, P. Appukkuttan Pillai has lodged a petition with the south zone DGP regarding the circumstances which prompted her to take the extreme step. Sreedevi, 55 of ‘Anupam’, Perumpuzha in Kundara had committed suicide on February 2. She was the principal of Government Higher Secondary School at Ashtamudi in Kollam.

The principal had noticed the mischievous behaviour of three girl students who brought liquor and consumed it in the classroom. She asked the parents to meet her and disclosed the issue. The students also gave in writing that they won’t repeat the mistake, according to the petition filed by Mr. Appukkuttan Pillai. “She did not even report the issue to the PTA president and handled it secretly since girls were involved in the act. The teacher was mentally distressed after this incident as she complained of loss of appetite and took no food,” Mr. Pillai told DC. 

Sreedevi was taken to a doctor where she complained that the students were “not learning properly” which affected her mentally. She was consoled by the doctor and was given medicine for loss of appetite. On the fateful day, Sreedevi was alone in the house and was found pleasantly communicating with her husband. She was found dead by evening when Mr. Pillai returned home.

The liquor was brought by one of the girl students from the custody of her father. She served it to her friends also, after which the girls vomited.  The teacher in the classroom noticed this and alerted the principal. Several teachers unions had protested seeking departmental inquiry into the suicide of the teacher. The All Kerala School Teachers Union (AKSTU) has also demanded a departmental probe into the principal’s suicide.