Assam: 16-yr-old boy who failed to attend online classes found dead

A 16-year-old student, who was sad as he didn’t have a smartphone to attend online classes, was found dead near his house in Assam’s Chirang district on Tuesday, police said.

As per the police, the student of 10th standard, who came from a poor family, was upset because he couldn’t attend online classes and exams carried out by his school.

Educational institutions are closed in Assam since March because of the coronavirus. But online classes and exams are being held by both private and government schools over smartphones.

“The boy’s family was very poor. His mother had gone to Bangalore in search of work and his father didn’t have any job. The boy needed a phone to take part in online classes but his father was not able to get him one,” Sudhakar Singh, Chirang’s superintendent of police, said.

“From what we have been able to gather after talking to neighbours and others close to the student, it appears he was fed up with the situation and decided to take his own life,” he added.

Although few reports said a suicide note was recovered, the police have denied it.

The autopsy report is awaited.

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