Class 10 girl found dead in Calcutta school ... Topper found dead in school washroom with slashed wrist

TT, 22 June 2019, Calcutta: A Class X girl who always topped her class was found dead in her school's washroom on Friday with wounds she is suspected to have inflicted on herself using multiple blades unscrewed from pencil sharpeners.

Krittika Paul, 14, who was smiling and chatting with her friends as on any other day, had excused herself to go to the infirmary -- referred to as the "restroom" in the school -- around the end of the fifth period. She never returned to class.

Two of her classmates at the GD Birla Centre for Education, in Regent Park on the city's southern fringes, went looking for her around the seventh period. When they eventually found her in the washroom, she was bleeding and unconscious.

Police said she had wrapped her face with a polythene bag and tucked its edges inside her shirt, possibly to try and suffocate herself. There were multiple slash injuries on her wrist, the police said.

Officials at EEDF Hospital, Jodhpur Park, said there was no sign of life when she was brought in. The police said she had left behind a three-page note that suggested stress. According to officers, the note said that no one was to blame for her death.

The last page, which the police suspect was written inside the washroom, describes the moments during which she hurt herself and contains shaky handwriting, officers said.

Murlidhar Sharma, joint commissioner (traffic) with additional charge as joint commissioner (crime), said: "After preliminary interaction with the parents, we have learnt that she always dreamt of joining the Indian Statistical Institute. She used to worry about this. The note mentions that she did not sleep soundly over the past three months. Krittika was an only child. Her father, a software engineer, had flown to Hyderabad on business .on Friday morning and was on his way back on Friday night. Her mother is a homemaker.

A teacher described her as a "meritorious student" who had the potential to score a perfect 100 in physics, chemistry and mathematics. She had topped most of her exams during her school life, including her Class IX annuals.

"There was a spark in her eyes," a teacher said.

The police have spoken to her mother who, officers said, had no clue why her daughter would do something like this.

Footage from a CCTV installed inside the classroom shows Krittika smiling and talking to her classmates minutes before she stepped out saying she was feeling unwell, an officer said.

When she failed to return after two periods, a school employee went looking for her in the infirmary, school officials have told the police. When she could not be found there, a teacher sent out a group of students to look in the laboratory, library and the washroom.

Two students who went to the washroom found one of the doors locked from inside and raised the alarm. A table and a chair were carried into the washroom so that someone could climb over them and look in.

Some sources said Krittika was seated with her back to the door with several blades, unscrewed from pencil sharp- eners and bloodstained, strewn around.

The door was broken and an already unconscious Krittika taken to the EEDF Hospital. "She was taken to the intensive care unit but there was no pulse or blood pressure," the hospital official said.

"She had several cuts on her left wrist and bloodstains on her uniform. She was no longer bleeding when she was brought to the hospita. lKrittika lived with her parents on the third floor of a fourstorey apartment building in Baishnabghata.

Bright and meritorious, polite, always smiling — this is how teachers and friends remember Krittika Paul, who was found dead in her school’s washroom on Friday.

The Class X student of GD Birla Centre for Education was always among the top five rank-holders in class.

“Krittika was an intelligent child. She was one of the few students who could score 100 on 100 in physics, mathematics or chemistry. At the same time, she was extremely obedient and never showed any disrespect towards teachers,” said a teacher who had taught her. “The school has lost a student who would have brought much reputation to the institution.”

The teachers couldn’t believe that a “lively” and “cheerful” child like Krittika could kill herself.

A tutor who gave physics lessons to Krittika called her an “extraordinarily brilliant student”. “She had an innate knack for science. Her marks in all the science subjects were very high in her Class IX annual examinations,” he said.

Krittika is said to have been preparing for the IIT-JEE. She also attended dance and karate classes.

The 14-year-old was a “favourite” of teachers for her “politeness”.

“Her bright pair of eyes would always sparkle when she was asked to answer a question in class. She would always smile whenever she stood up to answer a question. This is something which we don’t see in most girls her age nowadays. This made Krittika even more special to us. It is hard to believe she is no more,” a teacher said.

Another teacher who filled in for a colleague on leave for a few months remembered Krittika even from the brief stint. “When we take a class on behalf of another teacher once in a while, it is often not possible to remember the faces of all the students. But I distinctly remember how lively and sober Krittika was,” she said.

Neighbours in Baishnabghata, where the family shifted a few years ago, were also fond of the “sweet-natured girl”. “She would never forget to greet with a smile whenever I met her,” said a neighbour.

Krittika’s maternal uncle Saugata Basu said the family had no clue what could have prompted her to take such a drastic step. “Ours is a close-knit family. Krittika was a favourite child,” he said.

Teachers and friends in school also vouched that Krittika seemed “fine” when she reached school on Friday morning.

Classes begin at 9.10am and she was seen chatting with friends like other days.

“Four periods are held in the morning before the tiffin break that lasts for 40 minutes from noon. She behaved normally in the first, second, third and fourth period. During the break, too, she seemed fine. After the break she returned with her friends and attended the physics class,” a student said.

A little over an hour later, Krittika was found sitting on the floor of the washroom, her face covered with a polythene bag wrapped around her neck and her back resting on the door. She had used strings used to bind practical notebooks to tie the packet around her face. Tags