A tragic case has come to light in Punjab's Amritsar where a 17 year old Class 12 student allegedly died after facing mental harassment related to unpaid school fees and police have registered a case and started an investigation into the matter.
The deceased student has been identified as Amjot Kaur a Class 12 student of a school located on Fatehgarh Churian Road in Amritsar and according to police officials she was living with her maternal aunt Sarabjit Kaur while continuing her studies.
As per police Amjot consumed some poisonous substance on May 22 and her condition worsened after the incident following which she was admitted to a hospital where she remained under treatment for several days but passed away on May 30 and before her death Amjot recorded a video statement from her hospital bed which later went viral on social media.
In the video she alleged that she had been subjected to mental harassment by members of school administration and according to statement made in the video Amjot said that she was called to the school on May 11 and further alleged that she was taken to a separate room and faced severe mental pressure.
In the video she held school administration responsible for her condition and appealed for justice and following this Amritsar Police Commissioner Gurpreet Singh Bhullar confirmed that a case has been registered on basis of the victim's video statement and said police have launched a full investigation into allegations made by the student.
Station House Officer (SHO) Kirandeep Singh of Police Station Sadar said that the girl's post-mortem examination was conducted on Sunday and after the examination her body was handed over to the family and talking further about the case he added that police teams are conducting raids to arrest accused persons named in the case.
The student's family has alleged that the school management had been continuously pressuring her over pending school fees of around ₹20,000 and according to the family they had requested permission to pay the amount in installments but pressure on the student allegedly continued.
The family has also made additional allegations against school administration and they claim that Amjot was not allowed to opt for medical stream despite having good academic performance and further alleged that she was assigned extra duties and was on some occasions not allowed to re enter the classroom after visiting restroom.
According to family members Amjot was a bright student who regularly scored good marks and they said she had secured 86% marks in Class 10 and the family also alleged that school had withheld her results and threatened to remove her name from school rolls due to non payment of fees.
Punjab Education Minister Harjot Singh Bains has taken note of the case and speaking on the matter he said that it was a very serious incident and that an FIR for abetment to suicide has been registered against school authorities.
He stated that an impartial investigation will be carried out and strict legal action will be taken against anyone found guilty and the minister also said that role of school administration is being thoroughly examined and he assured that no person found responsible in case would be spared and that justice would be ensured through legal action.
The investigation is currently underway and police officials have stated that all allegations made by the student and her family will be examined thoroughly during the probe.