School Girl Suicides After Facebook Photo Issue - Sri Lanka


Principal did not understand that the photo was tagged in lover's photo.
 
Principal says that she was mentally pressurizes because of family problems


Several aspects relating to the incident of this suicide brought to the attention of Gossip Lana readers yesterday (Feb 6) have now been revealed in connection with the deceased student P.B. Venusha Imanda Bandara who was studying in grade 10 in the mixed school Sir John Kotelawala in Kurunegala and died by hanging herself with a sari  being subjected to the temper of the school Principal over an issue concerning the Facebook.
http://www.wideshaseva.com/home/facebook_unmadaya.html
This student had been maintainingtwo Facebook accounts and one of those accounts had been discontinued after the year 2011. The other account had been updated to last February and a friend of her lover had tagged a photo of a picnic where she appeared in the company of her lover was tagged by a friend of his which was seen on the page of her Facebook. (By now her photo has been deleted). The name of the school with emblems including photos of the Principal during a festival were seen in the collection of photos in her Facebook account. The Principal who had come to know about this had summoned the deceased the following day and reprimanded her. 

The Principal has lost his temper because the name of the school has been blemished as photos of her lover were displayed on the Facebook page. Though however much she had said that the photo concerned was not tagged by her, and that it was someone else's work and therefore it was to be seen on her page, he did not possess a competent knowledge of Technology enough to understand the Technological phenomenon related to it.Instead he had kept on reprimanding the student saying that it was a disgrace to the school.

According to the letter the deceased had left behind at her death, she had admitted that she has had a romance with a boy. As mentioned therein, the Principal has scolded her in harsh language and that too in the presence of others.

The Principal who has had a training in the Jathika Shishyabhata Balakaaya had also been engaged in training cadets and was supposed to be having dominating attitudes and on this occasion too he has displayed such characteristics towards this student.

The related incident had taken place on Monday, Independence Day (Feb 4) and on The following day, Tuesday the said Principal had asked her to bring her father to school. Likewise, though she had told  this to her father, had also told him that he has no reason to go and ask pardon in this case and for a mistake that she had not committed. She had further asked him not to go and that she would get transferred to another school.

It was in this background that she had committed suicide on Wednesday, the day the Principal asked her to bring her father to school. Before putting an end to her life, she had written a three-page letter and had subsequently hanged herself from a rafter in her room with a sari. It was only after all this had happened that a servant woman had gone to the girl's room taking the girl's meals when she had seen the girl hanging after which she had notified the father. Even by that time the girl had passed away and admitting her to hospital was in vain.

Venusha who died in this manner is the second among three daughters with whom the father was living in the house. It was understood that the eldest daughter is employed while the youngest daughter too is studying in the same school as Venusha. Because of a conflicting situation between father and mother, the latter had been living away from them. The deceased's last letter gives testimony to the fact that her mother is not on talking terms with her.

Venusha's father who is occupied in a business in front of his house, it is said, is looking after the well-being of Venusha. Though he was aware of the Facebook issue he had not thought that it would turn out to be serious as this. However, he was aware that she was with a disappointed mentality because of the aggression shown by the Principal.

What the Principal says in connection with this incident is that he really is strict with the disciplinary aspect of the school and that he came to know about this Facebook issue from anonymous letter in the 'complaint box'.Also that he saw unnecessary photos giving evidence of her romance  appearing on the page which displayed clues where his (the Principal's) identity as well as that of the school could be observed. He also mentions that the student was summoned to the office-room where two teachers were present and warned; but that there was no crowd as such at that time. Further, he says that the student admitted everything that he said to be true. Also later that he heard about this unfortunate incident only after he had requested her to bring down her father to school to talk about this issue.

In addition what he says is that she had been spending her time with  mental pressure because of family problems and having come to know about the conflicts between father and mother and her mental pressure, she was made to seek the counselling of a lady-counsellor in the school.

In the process, the Counsellor Prabha Ranasinghe herself having observed the girl's mental condition had said that there is a different phenomenon at the background of this incident other than what is revealed by Venusha's last letter. She also mentions that she does not believe that the Principal's scolding because of the Facebook issue alone was the direct cause for her suicide. The Counsellor goes on to say that the girl's father and mother had not been on talking terms and had been living apart from each other and that the deceased had been living in a depressed state of mind without having anybody to tell her woes; that the verse appearing in her Facebook page stands testimony to all this.  The Counsellor finally says that the girl was virtually stranded  in her journey without love and affection which she was searching for and furthermore these unanticipated issues may have hurt her feelings of this girl who was of a tender age and that this death was the result of a mental problem.

The letter written by Venusha before her death is seen BELOW

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