Kerala: Protests intensify after tribal girl commits suicide over lack of access to online classes

Protests intensify after tribal girl commits suicide over lack of access to online classes in Kerala. The girl was deeply upset as the TV in her house was not working and the only mobile in their home was not charged.

Malappuram:Protests intensify after a 14-year old tribal girl committed suicide, unable to bear the sadness of not being able to attend the online class. The incident occurred just a day after the government started online classes for government school children.

The girl, hailing from a poor scheduled caste family, living in a very small house at Valancherry in Malappuram, is a very bright student all through her brief academic career, was deeply upset as the TV in her house was not working and the only mobile in their home was not charged.

Several student organisations and youth fronts organised protest marches to the offices of District Collector and District Education Officer, demanding to find a solution for the marginalised section of the society, who has no access to online classes.

Her parents said that right from Monday morning after she was unable to attend the online classes, she was very gloomy and was all by herself.

After her mother found out she was missing from the house, after a search, they found the burned body of the daughter about 200 metres from their home.

A bottle of kerosene was found near her burned body.The autopsy would be conducted later at the State-run Manjeri Medical College hospital and would be handed to the family to conduct the last rites.

In a letter addressed to Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi had expressed concern for tribal students who do not have access to the infrastructure needed for online classes.

The Kerala Infrastructure and Technology for Education (KITE) is the backbone of the education system in the state and has taken on to fuel the intricacies of the IT-enabled education in over 16,000 schools in the State.

(With inputs from IANS)