16-Year-Old Boy Kills Himself After School Headmaster Tells Him To Trim His Hair

A 16-year-old boy reportedly killed himself by consuming rat poison after his school headmaster scolded him about his long hair and required him to trim it in Tamil Nadu, India.

The victim, identified as L Vishal, 16, of Thirunageswaram Government Higher Secondary School, reportedly committed suicide after his school headmaster reprimanded him in front of his mother regarding his long hair on Oct. 25, DT Next reported.

The school headmaster noticed Vishal's long hair and allegedly singled him out as it went against the school's dress code. The official warned the student to cut his hair and told him to bring his parents to school.

On Oct. 25, when Vishal brought his mother to meet the headmaster, the official once again reprimanded Vishal, this time in front of the teen boy's mom regarding his long hair. Vishal, who got reportedly frustrated over this incident, decided to kill himself later that day. After returning home from the school visit, Vishal allegedly downed rat poison while recording a video stating that the headmaster was responsible for his death.

Vishal was immediately rushed to the hospital for treatment. However, he succumbed to poisoning complications and died on Sunday, Oct. 31.

In a similar but unrelated incident, a 20-year old medical aspirant allegedly killed himself over a fear of failure in the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET) exam in Tamil Nadu, India on Friday, Oct. 29.

The victim, identified as Keerthivasan, took the medical entrance exam for the third time in September earlier this year. He had previously taken the test in 2019 and 2020 but failed both times. Despite two consecutive failures, he decided to try his luck for the third time this year, India.com reported.

However, when the National Testing Agency published the answer key to the exam, Keerthivasan reportedly became upset and told his parents that he may not be able to clear the test this year as well. Even though his parents advised him to wait for the final results, Keerthivasan allegedly consumed a bottle of pesticide and committed suicide on Friday afternoon, Oct. 29. He was immediately rushed to the Pollachi Government Hospital for treatment. However, he would later be declared dead at the health facility.

In another incident, a 16-year-old boy reportedly killed himself after his parents told him to stop seeing his girlfriend and focus instead on his studies. The incident happened in Hyderabad, India on Tuesday, Oct. 26.

On Tuesday evening, Oct. 26, the teen's parents delivered a stern warning forbidding him from seeing his girlfriend. Following this, the boy went into his room and locked it from inside. The victim reportedly routinely slept from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. every day. However, on Tuesday, when the teen did not come out of his room after 9:30 p.m., his parents became worried and decided to check on him. When they looked through the room's window, they found the boy hanging limp from the ceiling, Latin Times reported.

The police subsequently transported the boy's body to Osmania Hospital for an autopsy. The officers have registered a case report at Narayanaguda Police Station.