Teen commits suicide after being barred from exams in Pakistan

Karachi: A 17-year-old girl in Pakistan's southwest, who led a protest against suspension of classes at her college owing to a shortage of female teachers, has committed suicide alleging that the college principal refused to send her examination form to the board.

Saqiba Kakar, a second year Intermediate student of Government Girls College in Muslim Bagh ingested poisonous pills on Friday after the principal of her college refused to send her examination form to the intermediate education board.

Chief Minister Sanaullah Zehri of the Balochistan province has ordered an inquiry into the incident.

Kakar and 12 other girls were suspended from sitting in their Intermediate final exams by Principal Abida Ghous of Government Girls Degree College, Muslim Bagh for staging a demonstration outside the Quetta Press Club in June 2015 demanding resumption of classes at their institution, her family said.

The girls, who had travelled all the way to Quetta last year to stage a protest, said the principal, had cancelled classes because there were "no female teachers at the school".

The girls also claimed that around a 100 girls were not receiving education just because the principal had removed all the male teachers from the college who were teaching there for last many years.

Azizullah, the brother of Saqiba said despite the girls submitting apologies to the college principal for the protest they were not allowed to sit in their final exams and his sister was extremely depressed.

The Balochistan Board of Intermediate and Secondary Education exams are scheduled to start from April 1. Baluchistan Education Minister Rahim Ziaratwal said a three-member committee had been formed to investigate the tragic incident.