Jaipur girl's parents release CCTV, allege teacher inaction amid bullying
Translated from English, summarized and contextualized by DistantNews.
At a glance
- Parents of a nine-year-old girl released classroom CCTV footage, alleging repeated bullying and teacher inaction before her death.
- The footage reportedly shows the child seeking help from the teacher multiple times, but receiving no intervention.
- A CBSE panel had previously flagged 18 months of bullying and noted the school's alleged failure to take corrective action.
Eight months after a nine-year-old girl allegedly died by suicide at a private school in Jaipur, her parents have released new CCTV footage from her classroom. They claim the video demonstrates persistent bullying by classmates and a failure by the teacher to intervene, even as the child repeatedly sought help.
My daughter was continuously telling him to look forward, to look at the board. She was a disciplined child. She was on her seat, not moving or complaining.
The Class 4 student reportedly fell from the fourth floor of the school building on November 1 last year. She was pronounced dead upon arrival at a local hospital. The release of this footage comes just weeks after the Rajasthan Police filed a chargesheet in the case.
The girl's mother stated that her daughter was bullied by a classmate for nearly an hour, with the teacher failing to step in. She described how her daughter, a disciplined child, was repeatedly told by the classmate to "look forward, to look at the board." After 55 minutes of this harassment, the mother recounted, her daughter approached the teacher five times, pleading, "ma'am I did not do this. I did not say this ma'am. No ma'am, no."
After 55 minutes of bullying, she went to the teacher. You can see there is a gesture like this (mimics with folded hands) ma'am, ma'am. It needs a lot of courage, a lot of courage to approach the class teacher five times. Not once, five times. Five times she went to the teacher to explain. She kept saying ma'am I did not do this. I did not say this ma'am. No ma'am, no.
Adding to the distress, the family noted that the child had appeared happy the previous evening. However, inside the classroom, she exhibited "alarming signs," such as placing her hands on her forehead, which the mother interpreted as indicators of immense pain. The family also alleged that the teacher not only failed to respond appropriately but "participated in that bullying."
The teacher cornered her, she participated in that bullying.
This new evidence emerges after a Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) panel had previously investigated the incident. The panel had flagged 18 months of alleged bullying and noted that the school had "ignored repeated complaints" from the girl's parents. The committee's findings indicated that the teacher "took no corrective action" despite the child appearing "puzzled, embarrassed and extremely disturbed" during the incident.
showing all the alarming signs, putting her hands on her forehead. This means the child is going through something immense, something very painful she is seeing on the digital slate.
Originally published by Hindustan Times in English. Translated, summarized, and contextualized by our editorial team with added local perspective. Read our editorial standards.