A 12-year-old Indian school girl killed herself after allegedly being
shouted at for staining her uniform and bench with period blood.
The 7th grader, a student in a Senthil Nagar school, in Tamil Nadu’s
Palayamkottai, Southern India, had asked for permission to go to the
restroom after her menstrual blood stained her uniform and bench but the
teacher allegedly yelled at her.
At about 3 a.m. yesterday she jumped off the terrace of her
neighbour’s house. Her shocked parents had no idea why she had taken her
own life, until they found her suicide note. In it, she said her
friends had pointed out that her bench and uniform had menstrual blood
on them. Embarrassed, she asked her teacher for permission to go to the
restroom but the teacher reprimanded her in front of her classmates,
told her to leave the room, and scolded her asking if she couldn’t even
place her pad properly. The teacher then took her to see the principal,
who allegedly scolded her as well.
“I don’t know what to say. Until now you didn’t hear any complaint
about me but why did the teacher complain about me like this?”, she
asked in her suicide note.
The incident sparked protests from the parents of pupils and members
of the public who were angry over the girl’s death. Police managed to
break up the crowd and promised to take action.
A senior police spokesperson confirmed that an investigation has been launched.
They added: “Right now we are hearing different versions. Only after the completion of probe will we have clarity.”