Tangled in misery: To evade punishment, schoolboy ends his life

The memory of Mubeen and his suicide note invoke an indescribable sentiment for the bereaved family. PHOTO: MUHAMMAD SADAQAT

In his suicide note, Mubeen wrote that he was fed up of hostel, where he was often subjected to severe punishment at the hands of a teacher he left unnamed. The grind of hostel life was what drove him to take the drastic step, the note read. He cautioned his parents against sending his younger sister and brother to hostel and asked his mother to go through his personal diary after his death.

While referring to an entry in the diary, a bereaved Rafique told the police that the teacher in question had snatched a picture of Mubeen’s mother and would punish him for “minor” mistakes. Rafique held the school administration responsible for his son’s death and demanded registration of an FIR against the teacher.

Meanwhile, SHO Ashiq Hussain said that when he went to Rafique’s house on Monday, he refused to have an autopsy. He outrightly denied his son had committed suicide, claiming that he had died after falling on the ground while playing with his siblings. However, the official said that the complainant had given his statement in black and white but later changed his mind. He added that the police has started investigation into the incident and the body could be exhumed for proper investigation.

The school administration could not be reached for comments; however, an administration member requesting anonymity said that the matter was being investigated to ascertain if there was any truth to the suicide note.

On Tuesday, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Amir Haider Hoti ordered a probe into the circumstances that led to the incident. Hazara Commissioner Khalid Khan Umerzai had deputed Hazara Additional Commissioner Muhammad Farid Khan to investigate the allegations of Mubeen’s father and the suicide note. The inquiry team would submit its report to the commissioner to send onward to the chief minuister within a weak, sources said.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 30^th, 2012.