Delhi school suspends four staff after 16-year-old student dies by suicide

New Delhi: Two days after a 16-year-old student of St Columba’s School died by suicide at a Delhi Metro station, the school has suspended the headmaster and three teachers named in the police complaint filed by the boy’s father. The action follows growing outrage from parents and students, who allege prolonged harassment of the teenager.

Shourya Patil, a Class 10 student, died on Tuesday afternoon after jumping from the platform of the elevated Rajendra Place Metro Station. A suicide note recovered from his school bag blamed teachers for repeated humiliation.

His parents said they will hold a protest outside the school on Friday, alleging the staff members were only suspended and not asked to resign, NDTV reported. They fear the school may reinstate them “once the situation gets normal”.

In an FIR registered on Wednesday, Shourya’s father, Pradeep Patil, accused the headmaster and three teachers of mentally harassing his son. According to the complaint, the teenager had been repeatedly scolded “for the smallest of things”, threatened with a Transfer Certificate, and, on one occasion, pushed by a teacher.

The father told NDTV that one teacher had been threatening for four consecutive days to call the family and recommend Shourya’s removal from school — just days before pre-board exams. “The teachers kept on torturing him… It is unimaginable to tell a student this just 10 days before the pre-board exams,” he said.

He added that his son had studied at St Columba’s since Class 2 and had expressed distress over the alleged behaviour by certain teachers. Shourya had also informed a school counsellor that he was having suicidal thoughts, the father claimed, but the school did not share this with the family.

According to the FIR, the events on Tuesday escalated during a dance or dramatics practice session. Shourya slipped and fell on stage, following which a teacher allegedly mocked him and removed him from the performance. The boy began crying, but the teacher reportedly told him, “He could cry as much as he wanted and it did not matter to her.”

Pradeep Patil has alleged the headmaster was present during the incident but did not intervene.

The teenager left the school premises soon after and walked alone to Rajendra Place Metro Station. CCTV footage cited by police showed him entering the station around 2:45 pm. Moments later, he died by suicide.

His suicide note also included a request that action be taken against those responsible and asked that his organs be donated “if they were still usable”.

In letters issued to the four staff members, school principal Robert Fernandes confirmed they had been placed under suspension with immediate effect. The letters noted that an FIR (No. 336A, Tis Hazari Court, dated November 19, 2025) had been filed and that the suspension would remain in force until the completion of the investigation.

“You shall remain under suspension till the completion of the investigation and further orders from the competent authority,” the principal wrote. The staff have been instructed not to visit the school or interact with students, parents or colleagues without written permission.

Amid mounting questions over administrative responsibility, the Delhi government on Thursday ordered a high-level inquiry into the incident. A five-member committee, chaired by Joint Director Harshit Jain, has been asked to conduct a “thorough and objective” investigation and submit its report within three days.

The government said the probe was “imperative” to establish the circumstances leading to the boy’s death and to examine possible lapses in school oversight, counselling, and disciplinary processes.