2 students of Bengaluru school commit suicide

Bengaluru: Two students from a CBSE school, allegedly committed suicide by jumping from their apartments on April 1.

One of them was preparing for class 12 board exams, while the other had just been promoted to class 12. The reasons if their suicide is not yet confirmed. Both of them has not left any suicidal note.

The first incident took place at a posh residential area in Bellandur, where the teen had jumped from the terrace of his apartment at midnight. It was suspected that he committed suicide because he could not qualify for the Joint Entrance Examination (JEE).

The school management said, “The incident has come as a shocker to us. We do not know the reason, but we heard he was not happy with his JEE scores.”

He had left no hints about his plan. It was at midnight that his parents realised that the boy was nowhere to be seen. He jumped from the terrace while his parents were searching for him. His body was taken to Mangaluru, his hometown.

In the second incident too, the student had jumped from the fifth floor of his apartment. This again happened in Bellandur.

A teacher stated, “He was a humanities student and is believed to have ended his life during an online class in the morning. He had reportedly spoken to his parents earlier about an angelic force driving him. His parents are in a state of shock.” The boy had joined the school when he was in class 9.

The school conducts counselling sessions

The school then began to hold counselling sessions for the students. The principal said, “Lack of face-to-face interactions has been a major setback. We have told students to reach out to us whenever they feel the need.”

Counsellors confirm that the lack of offline learning has greatly affected the mental health of students.

Poorva Ranade, a psychologist, said, “The absence of direct interface with teachers, too much of learning through audio and video media and lack of socialising have impacted children. This is in addition to the already existing anxieties about exams, the academic future and maybe, even finances. With the pandemic, there is no mechanism to let out emotions and a lack of expression affects youngsters.”

She also opined that it is important for parents to teach their kids that it is not a big problem if lose a year in case he or she is not able to cope with it.