5 months ago
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The Uttar Pradesh Police on Thursday booked the block education officer of Kurwar in Sultanpur district for abetment of suicide after a school headmaster allegedly killed himself for being scolded as he was absent from duty.
A first information report (FIR) was registered at the Kurwar police station against the BEO, Manojit Rao, under Sections 306 (abetment of suicide) and 506 (criminal intimidation) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).
“We are investigating the case,” said Gauri Shankar Pal, an official at the police station.
The BEO has been removed from the post and a departmental inquiry has been launched against him.
Surya Prakash Dwivedi, 52, the headmaster in-charge of Chitta Junior High School, consumed poison on Monday and died at a government hospital in Lucknow early on Tuesday. The death led to a massive uproar, with a teachers’ organisation holding protest over the matter.
The family of the deceased refused to cremate the body until their demands were met. Their demands included the filing of a case against the official, job to a family member, and financial assistance. They relented after senior district officials ensured them of proper action.
District Magistrate Kritika Jyotsna ordered a magisterial inquiry into the incident. Sub Divisional Magistrate (SDM) Chandra Prakash Pathak has been asked to conduct the inquiry and submit a report within 15 days.
In their complaint, the family said that Dwivedi was on leave last Saturday to attend to his ailing son when the BEO reached the school for an inspection.
The BEO reprimanded Dwivedi when he tried to explain the reason for his absence. Shocked and aggrieved by this, Dwivedi consumed poisonous substance on Monday afternoon.
