CHHATRAPATI SAMBHAJINAGAR: A 55-year-old school principal at Limboti village in Nanded district‘s Loha taluka allegedly ended his life by hanging himself with a rope at his house sometime between Wednesday night and Thursday morning, a day after he was seen drinking alcohol in a classroom.
Police said the deceased was in charge of a Zilla Parishad school. “Our investigation showed that the deceased arrived in the school on Wednesday morning and allegedly consumed alcohol in a classroom in the presence of students. Alarmed by his behaviour, students left the premises and told their parents about the incident, which quickly spread across the village,” an officer from the Malakoli police said.
On learning about the incident, the block education officer sent three teachers to the school to look into the matter. “Upon their arrival, they found the principal in an inebriated state. He was not even able to articulate properly. Besides, a villager captured a video of the ‘drunk’ principal on his cellphone,” the officer said.
The police said Gaikwad returned to his home in Malakoli village on Wednesday evening. “The following morning, his family members found him hanging with a rope in his room. According to preliminary information, he ended his life fearing of public backlash,” the officer said.
The Malakoli police have registered a case of accidental death and are conducting further investigations. Nanded superintendent of police Abinash Kumar told TOI, “The principal did commit suicide at his home. A case of accidental death has been registered and the investigation is under way. Only after recording statements of his family members, school teachers and education department officials, the police will be able to officially state the reason that pushed him to take the extreme extreme step.”
