A Class VIII student of St Thomas School, Ranchi, who was apparently upset over his unfinished summer assignments, hanged himself at home between Tuesday night and the small hours of Wednesday, putting a question mark on the efficacy of our education system.

Utkrisht Kumar Jayaswal (13) was the younger son of his parents - father Ranjeet Kumar Jayaswal, who runs a printing press, and mother Anita Jayaswal, a homemaker. The family had last seen him around 10pm on Tuesday. Police have registered a case of unnatural death.

Mother Anita was the first to find the boy in a noose made out of nylon ties around 2am on Wednesday when she woke up to use the washroom at their flat on Harihar Singh Road in Bariatu.

"The door to his room was partly open and the light was turned on. I thought he was completing his assignments and went in to see if he needed anything. I found him hanging from the ceiling fan," she said between sobs and sniffles.

Utkrisht was rushed to RIMS in Bariatu, but declared brought dead.

Although no suicide note was found, Anita suspects school assignment was the trigger. "He (Utkrisht) became upset last night when he found the printer was out of order. He could not finish his physics, chemistry, biology and geography assignments. We took the matter lightly, but we shouldn't have," she said.

Anita, however, did not blame the school for piling homework on students. She said her son was stubborn. "That was his problem. Last year, when he did not do well in his examination and was conditionally promoted to Class VIII, we arranged for a home tutor. But, Utkrisht refused to study under him," she said.

Father Ranjeet said the school was closed since May 13 and had reopened on June 11. "I got his laptop repaired during the holidays so that he could finish his assignments. I am yet to come to terms with what has happened," he said, adding that their elder son, Utkarsh, had completed his ICSE from St Thomas with 88 per cent marks this year.

School principal Shubu Abraham Mathew could not be contacted.

A member of staff at St Thomas said the deceased boy was an average student. "Teachers asking students the reason behind unfinished assignments is common. I do not think there was any undue pressure on this particular boy. Students in our school are given sufficient time and support to complete projects even after vacation."

Bariatu police said a post-mortem was conducted at RIMS after which the body was handed over to family members for last rites. "We have registered a UD case and will wait for the autopsy report," an officer said.

Body on tree

In a second suicide in 24 hours, a 22-year-old man was found hanging from a tree behind his residence in Sector III of HEC Township in the capital on Wednesday evening. Abhinesh Kumar was a jobless matriculate and the son of a private security guard. The reason behind his suicide is being ascertained, said Dhurwa police.