Yog Raj Sharma
The North News
Shimla, September 30
A 12-year-old boy has died by suicide in Himachal Pradesh’s Shimla district after allegedly facing caste-based humiliation and assault. The incident occurred in Chirgaon area of Rohru subdivision on September 17, though police formally registered the case more than a week later, on September 28. The Officials said the child was playing near his village on September 16 when he entered a woman’s house. The woman, along with two others, allegedly beat him, subjected him to degrading treatment and locked him inside a cowshed. The boy managed to escape and narrated the ordeal to his mother.
Deeply distressed, he consumed poison shortly afterwards. His father found him unconscious around 7:30 p.m. and rushed him to the local community health centre, before being referred to Indira Gandhi Medical College in Shimla. Despite doctors’ efforts, the boy died in the early hours of 17 September. Initially, the family was unaware of the reasons behind his suicide. On September 18, his mother revealed the details, accusing three women of assault and confinement. The Police have booked the accused under relevant provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) and the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act. An investigation is ongoing.
