Time to sit up

Darjeeling, Sept. 6: A 16-year-old boy was found hanging in the washroom of a Kurseong residential school early this morning, the fourth student to have allegedly killed himself in the hills this month.

Police said preliminary indications were that Yalem Rai, a Class X boarder in the ICSE school, had killed himself in the washroom of the dormitory by hanging from the door frame. The noose was made of a bed sheet. But Yalem’s parents, who stay in Gangtok, alleged foul play. The body was spotted around 3.30am.

Nima L. Bhutia, the sub-divisional police officer of Kurseong, said: “We are yet to get the final post-mortem report. We can only comment whether it was a murder or a suicide after getting the final report. We think it is a case of suicide but the doctor is the best judge.”

The school could not be reached but sources said Yalem had participated in a Teacher’s Day celebration yesterday. Bharat Rai said he suspected his son was murdered.

This is the fourth instance this month of students in the hills killing themselves. On August 18, a 15-year-old girl of a reputed convent school in Kurseong committed suicide by consuming poison. A few days later, on August 21, a 21-year-old youth killed himself. None of the families had filed any police complaints.

The next day, a 13-year-old girl, from a school in Kalimpong, also committed suicide by consuming poison.

Father Kinley Tshering, an academician from Darjeeling who has handled teenagers for more than a decade, is alarmed at the spurt in suicides among students. “I come across young minds who say there is a lack of meaning about their lives. Religious and moral values are eroding and students are now hooked into the virtual world than the real life in which they live,” said Father Kinley.

The academician made a strong case for hiring trained counsellors in every school. “In my school, I had started training my teachers on counselling. They completed their stint in May,” said Father Kinley. He, however, cautioned that the urge to destroy life was always very complex.

Alarmed by the suicides, the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha-affiliated Vidyarthi Morcha organised a seminar on August 30 to discuss what was prompting the youth to destroy their lives but the organisers were disenchanted by the response. “We had invited people from a cross section of the society but the response was not very encouraging. Schools must hire counsellors as young minds are getting disenchanted. We are only indulging in a blame game on such issues but it is time we co-operated with one another,” said Nima Sherpa, the press and publicity secretary of the Morcha student wing.

Robindra Subba, director of Himali Boarding School in Kurseong, admitted that the education system and the mindset of the society had to change. “Students who are good in sports are forced to try and become engineers. We talk about this problem but at the end of the day nobody is willing to listen, be it parents or the society. The pressure on young people is immense,” said Subba.