Rouvanjit suicide case: La Martiniere principal to be charged with abetment

KOLKATA - A Kolkata court on Monday upheld the order for trial of the principal and three other teachers of La Martiniere School for boys in connection with the caning and subsequent suicide of 13-year-old Rouvanjit Rawla.

City Civil Court Chief Judge Dipak Saha Roy rejected the prayer of the four and upheld the order of a metropolitan judge to try them under more serious charges than those earlier framed by the police.

Claiming that the 12th Metropolitan Judge of Bankshall Court had no jurisdiction to reframe charges, the teachers had sought quashing of his order before the court of Judge Saha Roy.

Earlier on November 19 last year, the magistrate had ordered that the four be tried under section 305 (abetment to suicide of a child), section 324 (voluntarily causing hurt) and section 34 (common intention) of IPC. Section 305, if proved, can invite the death sentence.

The petitioners claimed that there was no material in accusing them of abetting Rouvanjit’s suicide.

It was further claimed that the metropolitan judge had not given them any hearing before reframing the charges on a plea by the counsels of Ajay Rawla, father of Rouvanjit, who claimed that the police had watered down charges against the teachers.

Kolkata Police had arrested school principal Sunirmal Chakraborty and the three teachers - Garnian, Partho Dutta and David Raun - on October 4 for the suicide of Rouvanjit Rawla, but they were given bail on the same day by the chief metropolitan magistrate as all the sections of IPC they were charged under were bailable.

Rouvanjit had committed suicide by hanging himself on February 12, 2010.

The standard eight student was forced to take this drastic step after months of humiliation, allegedly at the hands of his teachers. (ANI)