La Mart principal charged with abetment of suicide

A Kolkata court on Friday ordered that the principal and three teachers of the prestigious La Martiniere School be tried for allegedly driving one of their students -- Rouvanjit Rawla -- to commit suicide, reframing charges after the police made them an accused of a lesser offence.

The four accused in the Rouvanjit suicide case would be tried under section 305 (abetment to suicide), section 324 (voluntarily causing hurt) and section 34 (common intention) of the Indian Penal Code, the 12th metropolitan magistrate, Bankshall court directed.

The trial would begin before a sessions judge on December 14.

La Martiniere principal Sunirmal Chakravarti and the three teachers -- Garnian, Partho Dutta and David Raun -- had been arrested in connection with the suicide of the 13-year-old Std VII student on February 12. All the four accused are currently on bail.

The case had been filed by the student's father Ajay Rawla under section 305 of the IPC, but later the police filed a chargesheet under sections 323 and 324 (punishment for voluntarily causing hurt), 352 (punishment without grave provocation) and 23 of the juvenile justice (negligence of duty).

Rouvanjit had been found hanging in his room at his residence on February 12, four days after being allegedly caned by the principal for misbehaviour and disobedience.

Ajay Rawla filed the police complaint at the Shakespeare Sarani police station four months after the incident.