Chennai: 1 student suicide each week this year

CHENNAI: Poor academic performance coupled with mental stress and parental pressure has taken away the lives of 12 students in Chennai this year alone.According to data available with the Greater Chennai City Police, 19 students have ended their lives so far this year in the city.  Of these, 12 were due to academic stress and parental pressure. And of the total 19, 11 were college students, while the rest were from schools. “We find that students are very sensitive and most of them, more than their failure in studies, get dejected when parents scold them or when they are not around to motivate them,” a police official said. With Dhairyalakshmi  (19) being the latest, 19-year-old Aswini from Gopalapuram, a third-year B Tech student, who ended her life after failing in her exams in January, was the first case of suicide due to academic failure reported this year.Similarly, Induja (18) of Kilpauk, a plus-two student, hanged herself after her parents allegedly rebuked her for scoring low marks, while Nandhini (19), a college student from Perambur, also hanged herself after her parents reportedly yelled at her for having arrear papers, in the first month of this year.In February, a 17-year-old school student, Maran of East Club Road, hanged himself after his father advised him to perform better in studies. This was followed by the suicide of a plus-two student, Bhuvaneshwari of KK Nagar, who hanged herself after her father scolded her for not preparing for the exams. Kalaiarasi (14) of Perambur, who also took the extreme step after her mother advised her to study. Seventeen-year-old Pavithra too hanged herself after failing in the Class 10 exams.Dinesh of Seven Wells ended his life after he was asked to bring his parents as he was short of attendance, in March. Upset over his poor academic performance, a third-year DME (Diploma in Mechanical Engineering) student Jayaprakash (20) from Cuddalore district ended his life in the city, while S Manivannan, a third-year student from Anna University committed suicide allegedly after he failed to cope up with studies. Earlier this month, an IIT student Kuldeep Yadav hanged himself in his hostel room allegedly over a failed love affair.Police sources claimed that in most of the suicide cases involving both school and college students, the children were not able to fulfil the expectations of their parents. “Parents seem to exert enormous pressure on their children to realise their dreams,” said another officer. In 2011, as many as 84 students had committed suicide.

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