QUETTA: Balochistan Chief Minister Nawab Sanaullah Zehri and Education Minister Rehim Ziaratwal ordered an inquiry on Sunday into a suicide committed by a 17-year-old female student of the Government Girls Degree College, Muslim Bagh.
The brother of the girl accused the principal of the college of being responsible for the alleged suicide of Saqiba as she had refused to send her examination form to the intermediate education board because of allegedly leading a protest of girls college against shortage of teachers in her college a couple of months ago.
However, District Police Officer of Qila Saifullah Abid Baloch said that an investigation was under way into the incident as the hospital officials and family concerned did not inform police about it and they informed them on Saturday while the burial of the girl took place on Friday.
The education minister has constituted a three-member committee comprising senior officials of the education department to investigate the matter and has ordered that the inquiry report should be submitted to him and the chief minister within five days.
According to reports, Saqiba was a student of the Government Degree Girls College, Muslim Bagh, and she committed suicide after taking poisonous drugs on Friday.
“My sister Saqiba committed suicide because the college principal did not send her examination form to the intermediate board as she had led a protest procession of the college at the Quetta Press Club a few months ago against shortage of teachers,” Aizazullah, the brother of the girl, claimed.
He said that Feb 10 was the last date for sending the examination form to be eligible to appear in the intermediate examination.
“My sister repeatedly requested the principal and college administration to send her examination form, but the principal refused on the ground that she did not have the required attendance for appearing in the exams,” Aizazullah claimed, adding that his sister was very disappointed over the alleged attitude of the collage principal.
He alleged that Saqiba committed suicide by taking poisonous medicine.
Aizazullah claimed that the students of the Government Gills Degree College, Muslim Bagh, had protested against non-availability of qualified teachers as the principal had removed male teachers from the college who had been teaching in the institution for the past 18 years.
The BSc classes, he said, had been abandoned because of removal of these male teachers.
He further claimed that his sister and some other students had been victimised by the principal and clerical staff for taking part in the protest procession in Quetta and highlighting the issue of removal of teachers from the college.
The principal of the college was not available for comment on the allegation of Aizazullah.
District Police Officer of Qila Saifullah Abid Baloch said that the brother of the girl contacted police on Saturday night while the girl had been buried on Friday evening.
He said that an investigation was under way into the incident.
Published in Dawn, February 15th, 2016
