Porvorim school girl commits suicide, function postponed
HERALD CORRESPONDENT
PORVORIM, NOV 20
The felicitation function of Vidhyaprabodhini High School principal and senior educationist Subhash Bhasker Velingker was postponed on Saturday, following the demise of a 10-year-old student of the school.
Sanika Sudhaker Upale, a Std V student and the only child of her parents, had committed suicide over fears that she would fail in her mid-term exams in October.
Teachers and parents were stunned by the news that the 10-year-old girl had committed suicide.
Many who had gathered in the school at Porvorim were seen discussing how a young girl could have nurtured and executed the decision to end her life.
Some felt that the girl may have been influenced by the television and urged the education department to ponder on such incidents, where students resort to drastic measures after being unable to face reality.
It may be recalled that Sanika Sudhaker Upale who was studying in stanadar V of the Vidhya Prabodini highschool at Porvorim had just answered her half yearly examination.
Sanika's parents, natives of Chiplun-Maharashtra and presently residing at Alto-Porvorim, had left for work at about 9.30 am and Sanika was alone at home, as she was on Diwali vacation.
The mother, who works at a shop very close to their house, returned home at 1.45 pm found the door locked from the inside.
When her daughter did not respond to her call, the mother peeped through the side window and was horrified to see the body of her daughter hanging from an iron road fixed to the hall.
She immediately alerted her husband and the police.
Police rushed to the spot and broke open the front door. They found that the Sanika had committed suicide by hanging herself with a 'duppata'.
Police found a note written by Sanika in her note book stating that she was committing suicide because her mother would leave the house if she failed in the exam, which she had answered recently.
The body was later sent for an autopsy, where it was established that Sanika had died due to asphyxia as a result of suffocation.
Police Sub Inspector Sagun Sawant is investigating the case.