Kolkata:
Siddharth David Saha told his parents he could not take it any more. He says he was so, badly humiliated for years that he needed psychiatric care. On Wednesday, Siddharth went back to school after medically advised rest.
"No teacher was talking to me. I had put my head down but one teacher he pulled my hair, slapped me and said I was a dog, why did you come to school You've got a TC. They told me get lost from here....get out of school. At last I said I can't take this anymore. I told Papa please take me out of school otherwise I will die. I don't want to live any more." says Siddharth.
Siddharth came back home crying, and told his father he wouldn't go back to school. His father, fearing the worst, went to the police. The police has registered a case for voluntarily causing hurt and criminal intimidation against the principal and five other teachers.
The school claims Saha's complained, because Siddharth had been asked to leave the school on ground of bad behaviour. St James' Vice Principal SK Mondal told NDTV , "There were many complaints against him for many years. We had advised the family to apply for a transfer certificate."
Siddharth's father says he's scared after what happened to Rouvanjit, another 12-year-old who commited suicide after being caned at one of the city's leading schools. Rajesh Saha says he did not want the school to harass his son, "After what happened to the La Martiniere boy, I was scared of something similar happening to my boy. I don't want them to harass children. All schools must take lesson."
Kolkata is still searching for answers in the case of Rouvanjit Rawla, the 12-year-old who committed suicide in February, days after being humiliated and caned by the principal of his school, the prestigious La Martiniere School for Boys.
Rawla's death provoked an angry debate on the issue of corporal punishment in schools. The principal who caned Rawla, Sunirmal Chakravarthi, said he was not aware that caning was illegal. The case is being investigated by the police. The National Commission for the Protection of Child Rights (NCPRC) said it does not doubt that the principal's actions pushed Rouvanjit to hang himself. La Martiniere has denied those accusations.