An 18-year-old girl student in Odisha’s Kendrapara district died allegedly by suicide after being “frisked inappropriately” by a male teacher before she entered an examination hall, police said on Sunday.

The mother of the student lodged a police complaint on Saturday, alleging that her daughter was “inappropriately frisked by a male teacher” on February 19 when she appeared for the ongoing exams conducted by the Council of Higher Secondary Education (CHSE), Odisha at Pattamundai College, a senior officer aid.

Instead of female teachers, the girl students were allegedly frisked by men, which was against the CHSE guidelines, Pattamundai Rural Police Station inspector-in-charge Dheeraj Lenka said, quoting the contents of the FIR.

“Upset over the harassment, the class 12 student ended her life on February 24,” the complainant said.

“The complaint was lodged yesterday. We have launched an investigation and are verifying the CCTV footage to ascertain what happened. If evidence is found, legal action will be initiated against the accused,” Lenka said.

The college authorities, however, denied the allegation.

“Girl students are frisked by female staffers before they are allowed to enter exam halls. The allegation that a male teacher inappropriately frisked a student is not true,” Pattamundai College Principal Dilip Kumar Bhuyan said.

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