In a shocking case, a teenager in Uttar Pradesh took her own life on August 4th after facing ongoing harassment from two teachers over her family’s economic status and caste. Ayesha’s suicide note cited repeated taunts by the educators as the reason behind her tragic decision.
The police registered a case against the teachers for harassment and abetment of suicide only after Ayesha’s mother escalated the matter to the superintendent of police. “I had to approach them multiple times over four to five days before they finally registered an FIR,” she stated.
The incident began when Ayesha pointed out a discrepancy in a fee receipt given to her by one of the teachers, Wasfi Khatoon. Khatoon allegedly responded by demeaning Ayesha for her caste and economic status, declaring that she was acting as though she was on par with the upper castes. From then on, Khatoon and another male teacher allegedly made it a point to regularly humiliate Ayesha in front of her classmates over these issues.
In a troubling postscript, after Ayesha’s suicide, the accused teachers purportedly questioned her “character” as the reason behind her actions. The school’s principal, Jamshed Ahmed, denied all allegations against the teachers.
This incident comes on the heels of another controversy last week, where a teacher in Uttar Pradesh’s Muzaffarnagar was caught on camera directing students to slap a Muslim boy. The episode ignited national outrage, and legal action was initiated against the teacher involved.
