Jaipur School Student Suicide: CBSE Report Flags Safety Lapses, Bullying Ignored for 18 Months

The inquiry conducted by the Central Board of Secondary Education into the death of a nine-year-old student at Neerja Modi School in Jaipur has revealed major failures in student safety, child protection mechanisms and the school’s immediate response system. The report stated that the Class 4 student, who died after jumping from the fourth floor, had been subjected to continuous bullying involving verbal abuse with sexual references. Even though she approached her teacher twice on the same day, she was not referred to a counsellor. The report also said she was bullied for 18 months and was told “bad words” while the class teacher repeatedly ignored complaints from the child and her parents.

A detailed report prepared by the Central Board of Secondary Education on the suicide case, which triggered shock and outrage across the state, said that the school violated essential safety rules and protocols. It found that the authorities failed to monitor the movement of nine-year-old Amaira Kumar Meena, who reached the fourth floor despite her classroom being located on the ground floor. The report also pointed out the absence of safety steel nets on the higher floors to prevent tragic accidents. These violations, it said, led to the death of an “innocent child” who experienced “unbearable trauma and mental harassment”. On November 1, Amaira jumped from the fourth floor and died instantly. Her parents said she was bullied, teased and verbally abused with “sexual connotations”, and that repeated complaints to the school received no response.

The Central Board of Secondary Education probe committee outlined the series of events on the day of the suicide, noting that Amaira was earlier seen “engaging in positive conversations, dancing and eating chocolate and golgappa, appearing happy and laughing before 11am”. The situation changed after 11am when she appeared distressed over content displayed on a digital slate. A group of boys “wrote/made something. Amaira's reaction showed her to be 'puzzled and surprised' displaying embarrassment, and asking them to stop or erase what was written,” the report said. She later wrote something on the slate herself and asked for the content to be erased. “The teacher's intervention was very much needed,” the Central Board of Secondary Education observed.

The report strongly criticised the teacher for failing to intervene even when the child repeatedly sought help. It noted that Amaira went to the class teacher five times and asked for help for nearly 45 minutes, yet received none. According to the report, “Instead of supporting her, Puneeta ma'am dismissed the problem. She was seen shouting multiple times and said things that 'shocked the entire class'. Amaira felt concerned and harassed by few classmates and no support or intervention by teachers,” the report said. The probe added that she skipped lunch that day and attributed her “untimely death” to the “teacher's non-response, lack of hearing and absence of empathy/sensitivity to problems. If she would have intervened at first place the problem could not have reach to this magnitude,” it said.

The Central Board of Secondary Education report also highlighted several earlier complaints of bullying that were ignored. In September, Amaira’s father approached the class teacher after she was bullied by a boy, but the teacher reportedly said the child “needs to adjust with other kids”. In October, the same boy allegedly misquoted Amaira’s “hello” as “I love you” publicly, but the class teacher and coordinator did not intervene. In May last year, when a student showed Amaira the middle finger, her mother informed the school, but “the message did not get a response from the teacher,” the report said. It added, “As per the statements of the parents given to the committee, it is clear that the school did not take any preventive and proactive action on the repeated complaint of bullying and teasing by the classmates. The class teacher (Puneeta Sharma) and the school management were very well aware about the harassment and the trauma being faced by the deceased girl. The conversation and communications made by the parents to the class teacher and the school management went unheard,” the report said.

The committee further stated that “it seems something unusual happened in class and she is looking extremely disturbed. Few hot discussions, among students, are also observed and it may be related to use of bad words and some derogatory comments as per parents observation and video footage”. It also mentioned that teacher Puneeta Sharma admitted the student had complained about a classmate using “bad words”. “The fellow classmate refused using such words. However, some other children had also made complaints.... It appears that the school failed to maintain healthy atmosphere and there was no specific and required measures to tackle such incidents of bullying...,” the report said. The case has raised serious concerns across the education sector regarding accountability and strict enforcement of safety measures in schools.