Tamil Nadu is sadly witnessing what no one dreamt of nor anyone wants to. Though it has a good educational rate, the state is currently been beaconed over the distressing fact of introspecting the current-age educational system after it has recorded back-to-back suicides of school students. These tragic events have left the people anguished and alarmed the government to study and address the prevailing factors that led the students to end their lives.

Shockingly, Tamil Nadu has recorded six suicides within a span of two weeks and of these six, four students have committed suicide in a day alone - on Tuesday, July 26. Of these four, three were girls and the rest one was a boy. On Tuesday, a Class 12 girl in the Cuddalore district committed suicide and she was found dead at her home. Speaking to IANS, Cuddalore Superintendent of Police S Sakthi Ganesan told that the student had a rift with her mother and locked herself in the room and committed suicide. 

The body was recovered and a further probe has been ordered into the death and Chief Minister MK Stalin has directed an inquiry into the factors that led the girls to end their lives. In another incident, a Class 12 girl in the Villupuram district has ended her life by jumping into a well after her parents made arrangements for her marriage. According to reports, the girl was a native of Pilrampattu near Kandachipuram in Villupuram. She has two elder sisters and both of them are employed. 

The girl has completed Class 12 and was making efforts to pursue higher education in college. However, her parents were not financially stable to afford her higher education and they went on to make arrangements for her marriage. The girl was advised to join higher education after getting married. However, the police said that she was not interested in wedlock and was distressed that she would drop her education. She had then decided to end her life. 

The girl scored 411 marks in Class 12 and according to the Arakandanallur police department in Villupuram, the girl jumped into a well in the locality at 7.30 pm on Tuesday. Her parents and relatives were searching for her and shockingly, her body was found in the well at 3.30 am the next day. The officials have rushed to the spot and recovered the body and it was later sent to a government hospital for performing an autopsy.  

In another incident, a Class 12 boy in the Sivaganga district has committed suicide after being reprimanded by his parents. The boy was a native of Saakottai near Karaikudi in Sivaganga and he was studying Class 12 in a private school. After a long hiatus from physical schooling that was brought by the Covid pandemic, the schools are functioning normally and the boy found it difficult to cope with his studies. As he was not studying well, his parents scolded him, due to which he committed suicide, according to the local police. The boy's body was then taken to the Karaikudi government hospital. 

In yet another shocking incident, a Class 11 girl student in Sivakasi has ended her life on Tuesday. The girl was a native of Ayyampatti near Sivakasi in the Virudhunagar district. Her parents were working in a crackers company and she was studying at a government school in Ayyampatti. She came home from school on Tuesday and while her parents weren't home yet, her grandmother has also left the home and when the latter came back, she was shocked to know that the girl has committed suicide. 

After being informed, Sivakasi police rushed to the spot and sent the body for autopsy. Police said that the girl took this extreme step soon after she reached home and was found dead in her uniform. These four suicides have come days after two students - one each in Kallakurichi and Tiruvallur have committed suicide, which triggered statewide unrest as there have widespread remarks from across the state that there are suspicions over these deaths.

It is pertinent to note that the suicide of a Class 12 girl in Kallakurichi has sparked protests and riots and these two suicidal cases in Kallakurichi and Tiruvallur have been probed by the CBCID. Earlier this Monday, Chief Minister MK Stalin has appealed to the students, asking them to develop a positive attitude. He has affirmed that the government would not be a mute spectator to incidents of harassment of any kind towards girl students. MK Stalin said that the people who run educational institutions should have a service motive and they should not consider their establishments as business ventures. 

Addressing an event at a college in Chennai, MK Stalin said that all the responsible people behind these incidents would get appropriate punishment. He further told students not to exercise any suicidal thoughts. Urging teachers and parents to talk freely with students about their problems and goals, the Chief Minister said, "Students are not in colleges only to get degrees. You (teachers) must give them self-confidence, courage, and determination. Students, especially girls, must bravely face troubles, insults, and obstacles. It is my desire that Tamil Nadu students should not only be intellectually sharp, but they need to grow as physically and mentally strong persons."