What the Punjab and Haryana High Court said about protecting LGBTQIA+ students in schools? | Explained
The story so far: The Punjab and Haryana High Court on October 31 directed the Haryana education department and the central board of secondary education (CBSE) to ensure that schools comply with the Supreme Court’s guidelines on student mental health and suicide prevention laid down in Sukdeb Saha v. Andhra Pradesh. The decision came while dealing with a petition filed by the mother of a 16-year-old student who died by suicide in 2022 after allegations of prolonged bullying, harassment and sexual assault at school.
The petition was by the mother of a 16-year-old boy, a student of a prominent school in Faridabad, who died on February 24, 2022, accusing the school authorities and the headmistress of it. Also, his artistic inclination was misunderstood by his peers as being effeminate, and he was bullied and physically and sexually assaulted by a group of students within the school premises, as per the petition.
