(Trigger Warning: Mentions of suicide and bullying.)

(If you feel suicidal or know someone in distress, please reach out to them with kindness and call these  of local emergency services, helplines, and mental health NGOs.)

Mihir Ahammed, a 14-year-old student of Global Public School (GPS), ended his life by jumping from the 26th floor of their apartment complex in Kochi’s Thrippunithura, barely an hour after he returned from school.

His mother, Rajna PM, has alleged that Mihir was subjected to brutal ragging by his peers at GPS and faced highly from his former vice president at GEMS Modern Academy (Mihir's previous school). She believes this mistreatment shattered his spirit, ultimately leading him to take such a drastic step.

The Kerala Police have registered a . Additionally, Rajna has written to Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan's office and the Kerala police chief seeking an immediate and impartial probe into her son's death.

Rajna, in an Instagram post, shared a screenshot of a text message from a group chat her son’s present and former classmates at GPS and GEMS Academy sent each other minutes after they got to know of Mihir’s death — “f**k n***a, he actually died.”

From GEMS to GPS

Mihir, who was allegedly by his peers for his dark complexion, was also physically assaulted at GPS.

Mihir had moved to GPS from GEMS Modern Academy, where he had been enrolled for six years, in November 2024. The decision to switch schools in the middle of the academic year was made because Mihir reportedly faced harassment from school authorities at GEMS.

At GEMS, Mihir was disciplined for allegedly hitting a girl in his class after she pinched him. His family accepted the punishment and even apologised. However, after his suspension ended, the vice principal allegedly continued to subject Mihir to discriminatory treatment—forcing him to sit in a separate room, prohibiting him from interacting with classmates, and dropping him from the basketball team.

When the parents met with the vice principal to discuss these issues, they say his demeanor was hostile, and he asked deeply personal and uncomfortable questions in front of Mihir, causing both Mihir and his parents great distress.

This led them to decide to transfer Mihir to GPS. But his troubles were far from over.

'Kids Learn From Adults': The Endless Cycle of Body-Shaming and Cruel Humour

The most shocking part about Mihir Ahammed’s death is that the incidents that led up to him taking such a drastic step are normalised everyday occurrences at educational institutions across India.

In this day and age, when hardly a day goes by without social media shoving posts on inclusivity and body positivity, one would think our society has come a long way from the regressive ‘body-shame-y’ brand of humour of the yesteryears.

But stories like Mihir’s show us that when it comes to brass tacks, we haven’t crawled out of that regressive pit.

The worst offenders of such behaviour are often the adults, not the children, in these institutions. Why? Because when an adult engages in something as heinous as this, it normalises such behaviour, and impressionable adolescents mimic it without a second thought.

Speaking to The Quint, 33-year-old writer Mira recollects an incident from her school days. “I remember being taunted openly by my peers and teachers alike in school for my dark skin and skinny frame."

"It is so weird how clearly I remember a few of those instances—it was an after-lunch hour, our English teacher looked at me and said, ‘People who are healthy looking tend to be happier than the scrawny ones—look at you looking at Sara (name changed) greedily, how you wish you could be a bit chubby and fair like her, don’t you?’" she recalls.

Mira"This took place some good 17 years ago, I have gotten on with life but when I read about incidents like Mihir’s, I am instantly taken back to that classroom where everyone including me laughed at my teacher’s 'harmless' joke.”

Sruthi (30), a lawyer from Trivandrum says “I ran away from home when I was 14 because my computer science teacher fat-shamed me in front of the entire class saying I won’t get anywhere in life—personal and professional— because I was fat. If not for my parents finding me that afternoon, I wouldn’t have been here to tell this story."

"My tryst with depression started at that age.” Sruthi recalls, “When a teacher does this to a student, they become an easy target, and it has a cascading effect which leads to other students taunting them openly as well.”

When Verbal Jabs Turn Into Physical Assault

While acts like these break one’s morale and cause deep-seated, lifelong trauma, what’s even worse is that the torture doesn’t end here. Before you know it, these seemingly 'harmless' quips can turn into brutal physical violence as well.

In Mihir’s case, he was made to lick the toilet seat, and his head was forcibly pushed into the toilet while flushing it. Incidents like this, unfortunately, are not rare occurrences.

The suicide of the 20-year-old veterinary student J S Siddharth, on 18 February 2024 at the Kerala Veterinary University in Wayanad after being physically assaulted in the name of ragging was another such case in recent times.

The primary investigation details in the case file revealed that Siddharth was assaulted using belts, and was subjected to cruel ragging, physical attacks, and mental torture.

According to the case details provided to the CBI, Siddharth was tortured by his seniors and classmates from 9 am on 16 February to 2 pm on February 17.

With these being common occurrences, one can only hope that strict measures would be put in place in institutions to prevent incidents like these from happening.

'Despite it All, Ragging Continues to Thrive'

As we are discussing the torture Mihir went through from both the authorities and his peers, another news of heinous ragging has broke from Kottayam, Kerala.

The shocking incident took place at the Government College of Nursing in Kottayam, which serves as a grim reminder that ragging continues to thrive in Kerala’s educational institutions despite stringent laws.

Reports indicate that junior students were subjected to prolonged physical and psychological torture at the hands of their seniors.

The abuse, which lasted for nearly three months, included inhumane acts such as forcing victims to strip naked, hanging heavy dumbbells from their bodies, and piercing them with sharp objects.

More disturbingly, the perpetrators also engaged in extortion, coercing juniors into providing money to fund their alcohol consumption and threatening to release humiliating videos if they dared to report the crimes.

Such heinous acts not only expose the unchecked power dynamics in campus environments but also highlight the alarming failure of institutional safeguards meant to protect students.

While authorities have now launched an investigation, the fact that this abuse persisted for so long without intervention raises pressing questions about accountability within the college administration.

What's Going Wrong in Kerala?

Kerala has long struggled to root out ragging, despite legal measures such as the Kerala Prohibition of Ragging Act, 1998, and UGC guidelines mandating strict anti-ragging measures in colleges.

The persistence of such violent incidents suggests that these policies remain largely ineffective due to weak enforcement, administrative complacency, and a deep-seated culture of silence among victims.

Many students, fearing retaliation and social stigma, refrain from speaking out, allowing perpetrators to act with impunity.

Colleges often view complaints about ragging as isolated incidents rather than signs of a deeper cultural issue.

There is an urgent need for institutions to move beyond basic legal compliance and actively cultivate a culture of respect with zero tolerance for ragging. This requires stricter oversight, accessible grievance mechanisms, and comprehensive sensitisation programs aimed at reshaping campus environments.

If educational institutions continue to ignore these issues, they not only jeopardise student welfare but also undermine the core purpose of education — to create safe spaces for learning and personal growth.

In the ongoing investigation into Mihir’s death, the Kerala Police have constituted a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to delve deeper into the circumstances leading to his suicide.

Mihir's father, Shafeeq Madampat, has expressed concerns that the current focus on school bullying may overlook other critical factors contributing to his son's death, urging authorities to broaden the scope of their inquiry.

Concurrently, GEMS Modern Academy, Mihir's former school, has suspended its vice principal following allegations that Mihir faced isolation and humiliation during his time there.

The SIT is actively examining these aspects to ensure a comprehensive understanding of the events that led to this tragedy.

(Meenakshi Sajeev is a writer, published poet, and corporate communications consultant based out of Bengaluru. She has worked with the UN Environment and is currently with IBM. This is an opinion piece and the views expressed are the author's own. The Quint neither endorses nor is responsible for them.)