Thiruvananthapuram: The suicide last week of a schoolgirl in Kerala along with her lover has raised concern among parents and school authorities about the goings-on among schoolchildren, particularly in the backdrop of an increasing use of mobile phones among students.
The incident was reported from Taliparamba in north Kerala. The Class-11 student committed suicide along with her lover, apparently upset over images of a personal nature circulated among cellphone users in her neighbourhood that showed her in a poor light.
The girl, from the Kuttikol area, and her lover, an electrician hailing from Pariyaram, had apparently called a few people on the phone before committing suicide.
Things went out of hand after pictures of the girl purportedly kissing one of her classmates were sent by another of her classmates to others via mobile phone. The student suspected to have circulated the visuals via MMS has been arrested by the police.
The role of two cyber cafes in the neighbourhood is also being investigated. Angry youths protesting against the death of the girl attacked the two cyber cafes.
Earlier case
Last year, the suicide of three girl students of the Government Vocational Higher Secondary School in Alappuzha had hit the headlines in Kerala after a sexual harassment angle came to light. Police investigating the case arrested two boy students of the school three months after the incident on charges of sexual harassment and abetting suicide.
The two later managed to get bail.
According to the charge sheet filed in the case, the duo posed as lovers and lured the three girls to a vacant building near the beach in Alappuzha, where they took photos of the girls that were later used to blackmail them.
