The institute authorities said the student was routinely absent and had not showed up for classes since mid-September.
Written by Mahim Pratap Singh | Jaipur |
Published:December 30, 2015 2:53 am
The parents of the 16-year-old boy who committed suicide in Kota on Sunday have countered the allegations of the institute where he studied that the parents failed to respond to repeated text messages and calls from the institute regarding their son’s absence.
Bhanu Kumar from Bihar’s Saharsa district was found hanging from the ceiling fan at his rented accommodation in the city’s Mahavir Nagar locality, about 2-3 km from Vibrant Academy, the coaching institute where he was enrolled.
The institute authorities said the student was routinely absent and had not showed up for classes since mid-September.
However, Bhanu’s father Subhash Kumar Singh, who works at a private firm in Mumbai and arrived in Kota on Monday morning, rubbished the institute’s claim.
“They sent only two messages — one for Diwali and another for winter break. I did not receive any other calls or messages. If I had, I would have rushed to Kota earlier to find out what was going on,” Singh told The Indian Express.
“Anyway, it is futile now. None of this blame game will bring back my son. I just hope this does not happen to anyone else’s child,” he said. The police, too, said it was too early to arrive at a conclusion regarding the reasons behind Bhanu’s extreme step.
“No, it’s not like that (that the parents were ignoring the institute’s calls). Right now it will be difficult to say anything since he did not leave behind a suicide note,” Kota Superintendent of Police Sawai Singh Godara told this correspondent.
“It would not be fair to blame anyone at this point,” he added.
Authorities at Vibrant Academy maintained that the student had been missing classes for some time.
“He was not here to prepare for IIT-JEE or a medical entrance test. He was only in Class X and only after passing Boards would he have decided on a future course. So, there is no question of being under pressure. Besides, he was too young for these exams. It would have been at least two and a half years before he could have attempted clearing them,” Narendra Avasthi, director, Vibrant Academy, told this correspondent.
“He had not been coming to the institute and also wasn’t present for the ‘fun-day’ event we had at our institute on Saturday. We had intimated his parents about his absence and even called them but they hadnot responded,” Avasthi claimed.
But Bhanu’s family denied the claim, saying that his elder brother had also prepared for his engineering entrance exam from the same institute and that had really inspired Bhanu.
“He was a hard working student. He did not even stay back for Chhath pooja the last time he was home, as it would mean missing classes,” said Neeraj Singh, his uncle.
“They (institute) authorities would call promptly whenever the fee was due. Couldn’t they have called when Bhanu had gone absent for so long? Maybe it (his death) could have been avoided,” he said.
- See more at: http://indianexpress.com/article/cities/jaipur/kota-students-suicide-institute-never-informed-about-son-missing-classes-parents/#sthash.bFRp5AD5.dpuf
