Recently, a shocking case came to light in which a teacher slapped a student 40 times just because he didn’t answer the roll call. Today we are going to make you acquaint with one more shameful incident which will compel you to think whether teachers have forgotten their real responsibility which is not just imparting bookish knowledge but also brace students with all the necessary information to build their character and personality.
There had been just two months that Fazana Karim (13) attained puberty and quite naturally, she was not well-equipped with all the information regarding periods, like many other Indian girls. On the morning of 26th August, she stained her school uniform, as she suddenly got her periods during classes. She was a 7th standard student of Joseph Matriculation School in Palayamkottai’s Senthil Nagar and this was a very uncomfortable situation for her.
Here’s what her mother Rasavamal Banu revealed in an angry tone,
“Her friends pointed out that she had stained her uniform and so she asked her class teacher Ilakiya for help. The teacher did not even take into account that there were boys in the class. She asked my daughter to lift top of her salwar up and then gave her duster cloth to use as a pad.”
She was further scolded for this as well but was it her fault? The teacher took her to the cabin of Principal Kalavathi where she became an object of mockery and was chided for being unaware of the ways to handle periods.
As per her mother,
“When she came back home on Saturday, all she told me was that she needed to take a bath.”
A boy of her class later told her family about the embarrassing incident. She was very disturbed and finally, she took her own life by jumping off a 25 ft high building in Tirunelvelli. Her mother added,
“Even on Sunday she seemed fine. At 12 in the night I accompanied her to the bathroom because she didn’t want to go alone. But a few hours later, she jumped from the second floor of the neighbouring building.”
Her parents and neighbours heard the scream and hurried to the spot to find her lying in a pool of blood. They instantly took her to Palayamkottai GH; however, she breathed her last mid-way.
A suicide note has been recovered and here’s its rough translation:
“Dear Family,
Amma please forgive me, I don’t see another way. I have to die. Was there any complaint against me when I was in class six? But when I reached class seven, why did my miss (teacher) make such complaints against me? What mistake have I done that they’re torturing me like this?
But I’ll tell you one thing – that miss won’t live happily. She’s torturing me….It is true that I (unclear)…But how can she torture me like this. I couldn’t think of any other way. So I have committed suicide.”
Her family further revealed that this humiliation was prolonged. As per her cousin Umara Banu,
“She came of age two months back and couldn’t attend school for a week. She missed classes and a test. Since then, they have been scolding her and putting her down. What happened on Saturday was the final straw. How will a girl go back to school after being humiliated like this in front of so many boys?”
Her father is an autorickshaw driver by profession and used to pick and drop Fazana daily. He asked the class teacher about her performance and progress to which she complained that Fazana didn’t do her homework. As per Rasavamal,
“She used to come tell us that she was getting beaten in school. But we told her that if she finished her work, it won’t happen. She was a very sensitive child…The school is responsible for my daughter’s death.”
Nevertheless, Palayamkottai cops rejected the accusations made by Fazana’s family. As per an officer who was investigating the case,
“The Revenue District officer visited the school and has spoken to students and teachers. No such incident has been mentioned so far. A report will be submitted to the collector shortly. But from what we have found, the girl had some family problems.”
Reacting to it, Rasavamal said,
“That is outrageous. There are no problems. These are lies they are telling to hide the truth behind my daughter’s death.”
Sandeep Nanduri, the District Collector, said that a probe into the matter is ordered and added,
“Right now we are hearing different versions. Only after the completion of the probe we would have clarity.”
No matter how much we claim to be modern or advanced, periods are still considered to be a taboo in our society and people just can’t talk about them openly. It won’t be wrong to say that lack of sex education and information regarding periods and puberty further complicate the situation which results in unnecessary curiosity in the young generation and increases number of crimes against women and kids.