Delhi: St Columba’s School Suspends Headmaster, Three Teachers Named in Student’s Suicide Note and FIR

New Delhi: Two days after Class 10 student Shourya Patil (16) died by suicide by jumping from an elevated Delhi Metro station, the management of St Columba’s School on Thursday placed the headmaster (Classes 5–10) Aparajita Pal and three teachers — Julie Varghese, Manu Kalra and Yukti Aggarwal Mahajan — under immediate suspension.

The action follows a suicide note left by Shourya in which he directly blamed the behaviour of his teachers and an FIR lodged by his father, Pradeep Patil, on Wednesday at Gol Market police station.

In the heart-wrenching note addressed to his mother, the teenager wrote:  “Sorry mummy, aapka itni baar dil toda, ab last baar todunga. School ki teachers ab hai hi aise, kya bolun.”  
(“Sorry mummy, I broke your heart so many times, this is the last time. This is how the teachers in school are now, what can I even say?”)

The FIR accuses the four educators of systematic mental harassment and abetment to suicide under relevant sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and the Juvenile Justice Act.

In identical suspension letters issued by the school principal Robert Fernandes, the staff members have been informed:  
“In view of the seriousness of the allegations and FIR No. 336A dated 19 November 2025 registered at Tis Hazari Court, the competent authority has placed you under suspension with immediate effect.”

The letters further direct the suspended staff to:  
- Remain available for all inquiries  
- Refrain from visiting the school premises  
- Not contact any student, parent or staff member without written permission until the investigation is complete

Delhi Police have seized the suicide note, recorded statements of classmates and teachers, and are awaiting the postmortem report. The school has announced the constitution of an internal inquiry committee and promised full cooperation with the police probe. Counselling support is being extended to students and staff in the wake of the tragedy.