Alarming Rise in Student Suicides: 13-Year-Old's Death Highlights Urgent Need for School Mental Health Reforms

A 13-year-old student tragically ended her life by jumping from the rooftop of her three-story school building in Maharashtra on Friday morning.

Aarohi Deepak Bidlan, an eighth-grade student at CTMK Gujarati School in Jalna and resident of Mastagad, has left her family searching for answers. Her father, who works as a sanitation employee at a private hospital, claims she may have been "tortured" by school teachers.

According to the father, Aarohi displayed no signs of distress at home before leaving for school as usual that day. He received an unexpected call from school authorities informing him of the incident.

"The school called to tell me my child had done something terrible. When I arrived at the school, they said she'd been taken to a hospital. Doctors there indicated her chances of survival were minimal. She was subsequently transferred to the civil hospital where she was pronounced dead," said Deepak Ashok Bidlan, Aarohi's father.

"She was completely fine when she left home - the teachers must have tortured her," he added with conviction.

Inspector Sandeep Bharti from Sadar Bazar police station confirmed an investigation is currently underway to determine the cause behind this suicide.

"The incident occurred between 7:30 and 8:00 am when the girl jumped from the third floor of the school building," stated the inspector.

When questioned about the father's allegations against teachers, Inspector Bharti noted that no official statement regarding these claims had yet been filed with police.

"We have not received any information about teacher harassment so far. The parents have not provided any formal statement at this time," the inspector clarified.

This tragedy marks the fourth student suicide linked to alleged harassment reported this month alone.

On Tuesday, a tenth-grade student at a prominent Delhi school died after jumping from a Metro station. The 16-year-old, Shourya Patil, left a note addressing his mother and blaming his teachers.

In his final message, Shourya wrote, "Sorry, mummy, aapka itni bar dil toda, ab last bar todunga. School ki teachers ab hai hi aise, kya bolu (Sorry, mummy, I broke your heart many times, and I am doing it for the last time. This is how the teachers in the school are, what do I say?)"

The boy's father has filed a case accusing three teachers and the headmaster of St Columba's School of subjecting his son to severe mental harassment that allegedly drove him to suicide. Following these allegations, the school has suspended the headmaster and the three teachers involved.

In another incident on November 16, a 17-year-old eleventh-grade student in Madhya Pradesh's Rewa took her life after alleging physical assault by a male teacher.

Earlier in November, a nine-year-old fourth-grade student in Jaipur jumped from the fourth floor of her school building. Reports indicate she had endured persistent bullying and verbal abuse from classmates for several months. Despite approaching her class teacher for help on five separate occasions, she reportedly received no assistance.