What if? 5 student ‘suicides’ in 2 weeks raise big mental health question for Tamil Nadu schools

Cuddalore/Tiruvallur: His suicide note was written in “Tanglish”, with the Tamil words transliterated into English, and left in the refrigerator. In neat cursive on lined paper, she told her parents that she would miss her love and wished for kisses from her mother. She told them that she loved them, but “I’ve thought about this for a long time and I really can’t go on.”

A student from Class 12 in Virudhachalam of Cuddalore district had just taken her first test, a Tamil language test, since she returned to school for physics classes. She is believed to have thought she had done so badly that she took her own life that night.

Your Tamil test has not yet been scored.

On the same day, in Tiruvallur district, another female student also died of suspected suicide at her hostel. Her family alleges foul play and the rumors range from academic stress to a strict guardian.

Both died on Monday, July 25. Both were Class 12 students. And both are now part of a series of at least five suspected student suicides that have taken place in just a couple of weeks in Tamil Nadu. While investigators are looking at each case separately, the deaths have raised questions about the lack of mental health infrastructure and support systems for young, impressionable students.

The first death took place on July 13 in Kallakurichi, which caused Violent protests and heavy media coverage – followed by the two at Virudhachalam and Kilacheri from Tiruvallur, a boy at Sivaganga who in his note blamed academic pressureand a girl in Sivakasi whose parents pointed her out “menstrual pain” as trigger.

All of them were schoolchildren, studying in class 11 or 12.

“This is now a suicide cluster,” said Dr. Lakshmi Vijaykumar, founder of the Sneha suicide prevention center and a member of the World Health Organization’s suicide prevention and research network. “There’s definitely a copycat effect.”

Copycat suicides, he added, occur when a suicide is given too much attention or “sensationalized.”

“People identify with the person or their situation,” he said. “We know from our research that when a suicide is sensationalized, there is a 15 percent increase in similar suicides.”

But even if a high-profile case provides the spark, the spark is often a volatile mix of factors.

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Also read: ‘Bloodstains in the hostel’: the second autopsy carried out as ‘suicide’ of Kallakurichi keeps the city of TN tense

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‘My daughter was alone’

The Cuddalore student was one of the best in the school in English, scoring 93 percent in class 11. She was due to take her English exam the day after she died, followed by math, physics and chemistry during the rest of the week.

But her perception of a bad Tamil test was allegedly enough of a trigger for her to end her own life.

“It doesn’t make any sense,” his mother said. She is still in shock and has taken a break from the hospital where she works as a nurse. She had gone out Monday night to go shopping and when she returned she found her dead daughter.

Her sister-in-law stabilized her. She “she was such a talented girl, so smart. She wanted to become an IAS officer and work in the agriculture department,” the sister-in-law said. “She was fine on Sunday, we spent the whole day together. She was also fine on Monday morning. She was just that one thing…” she said, trailing off.

“Maybe going back to school was too much for her,” the sister-in-law finally said. “I was fine with the online classes. I think going back to school was too much pressure.”

The student’s school reopened for physical classes in June. Her new schoolbooks are still neatly stacked in her room, her bag hanging on a hook.

Her mother said she was always driven and ambitious, and knew what she wanted to do.

She was a good student who consistently got good grades in all subjects, said her math teacher, Peter Anthony Swami, also an assistant principal at her school, Sakthi Matriculation High School.

Could the widely reported Kallakurichi case have played a role in his suicide? His family members don’t seem to think so. They doubt that she has even heard of it.

He liked to spend his time drawing and watching cartoons like Chhota Bheemand didn’t really follow the news, they said.

However, the teenager spent hours alone every day. She came home at 5:30 pm and was left alone until her parents returned in the evening.

“She was the silent type. We had no idea that there was such a deep disturbance within her,” her mother said.

The student fell in January 2022 and injured her jaw; she sometimes hurt him when she spoke, which only increased her silence.

“I was alone… my daughter was alone,” her mother said.

A demand for ‘justice’

Some 30 kilometers from the Cuddalore student’s home, in the town of Periyanesalur in the same district, another grieving parent, Ramalingam, has just finished speaking with a team from the Criminal Investigation Department-Criminal Investigation Department (CB-CID ) in his house.

Their daughters death in a shelter in Kallakurichi on July 13 sparked violent protests across the state, with mobs setting fire to school buses and property, and demanding justice. In her suicide note, the Class 12 student allegedly blamed her teachers for her decision, but her parents claimed that there are signs that she may not have died by her own hand. .

Kallakurichi’s death was the first high-profile case in what is now a “cluster” of suspected suicides.

The violence that followed this case dominated headlines for days. The policemen have made themselves comfortable at Ramalingam’s house and a huge banner with her daughter’s face hangs like scaffolding above her house. Thousands attended the funeral of his daughter and he has become accustomed to the local press.

The CB-CID team was leaving Ramalingam’s house after conducting an investigation. A July 18 The Madras High Court order, after Ramalingam pleaded a crime in his daughter’s death, has ordered that all deaths by suicide taking place in educational institutions be transferred to CB-CID. (Since the other Cuddalore student died at his home, the criminal branch is not investigating his case.)

“I have already told you everything I know and suspect,” Ramalingam said. “Now they just have to find the truth.”

CB-CID Additional Deputy Superintendent of Police (ADSP) Gomathi told ThePrint that it is too early to say anything as the investigation is at a preliminary stage.

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Also read: As the ‘rape’ and murder of a fisherwoman stokes tension, TN police will record details of migrant workers

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‘No simple explanation’

More than 50 police officers swarmed around Sacred Heart Girls High School in Kilacheri on a sleepy Friday afternoon as teachers corrected schoolwork on the terrace.

CB-CID has also taken up the Tiruvallur case, but the police in the area are responsible for ensuring that it does not escalate into a public order situation like the one in Kallakurichi, and have called in reinforcements from the neighboring district of Krishnagiri.

While the Tiruvallur student’s parents allege foul play, rumors abound in the area. The Scheduled Castes and Tribes Commission had also come for an investigation on July 28, as she was a Dalit student.

The Class 12 student didn’t leave a note, but local rumors are still spawning possible theories about her death, from a strict hostel keeper to a “love” issue.

However, according to Dr. Vijaykumar, the only way to understand a suicide is to perform a “psychological autopsy”: examine all available information about the victim through artifacts or writings they have left behind, as well as interviews with their loved ones. and health professionals.

She told ThePrint that schools need to de-stigmatize mental health and develop peer counselors to engage with students on a regular basis.

“There is no single, simple explanation for suicide. There is always a variety of factors, and the final factor can be a trigger,” said Vijaykumar. “A lot of things have to go wrong for a suicide to happen.”

Mental health in Tamil Nadu schools

Tamil Nadu reportedly has one of the highest rates of student suicide in India, according to the 2020 National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) report, about 46 people died each day by suicide in the state; more than two of these victims each day were students.

Academic difficulties as a cause of suicide is also not a new concern: many suicides are reported to have been bound to the National Entrance Eligibility Test (NEET) to enter medical schools, with Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) even promising remove the test from its 2019 election manifesto.

However, even the youngest students seem to have a hard time coping.

“Covid has really hit the students,” Deputy Head Swami said. As a certified guidance counselor, he plans to organize motivational speeches for Sakthi School students and encourage students to put less pressure on themselves.

“The students are afraid. Online classes and exams were easier to manage. Also, last year we reduced the curriculum due to Covid. This year they have full servings,” she added.

The Tamil Nadu government is also trying to tackle the problem and equip schools with the necessary infrastructure to help both students and teachers.

“Up to 800 doctors, two each in 413 educational blocks across the state, will be appointed to provide advice and guidance to students on various aspects such as studies, career and behavioral changes,” Tamil Nadu Minister of School Education said. , Anbil Mahesh Poyyamozhi. said following the suspected suicides.

The department also plans to stage plays, film screenings and host literary forums in schools to boost morale and reduce stress for students, the minister said.

A test and a note

The mother of the Cuddalore student said through tears that she always thought her family supported her, as did the school. Her teachers always praised her and she was already studying for her upcoming exams. How could a Tamil test be a stumbling block?

His father suddenly looked up from the ground and wiped his tears with a cloth towel. “Did your Tamil markings arrive?” he asked ThePrint. “She passed?”

No. The answer sheet is still unmarked.

“Wow. So, we’ll never know.”