Unable to afford notebook, girl commits suicide

Unable to buy a notebook and pencil due to poverty, a Class VII student in Odisha's Ganjam district allegedly committed suicide by setting herself on fire, police said today.
With 50 per cent burns, the 12-year-old girl, who studied in Government Girls High School at Aska was taken to MKCG Medical College and Hospital here after she set herself afire by pouring kerosene yesterday, police said.
The girl, who was in a very critical condition, died late last night, police said.
The police said the girl had asked her mother for money to buy a notebook and pencil yesterday as she would require it as her school reopened after the summer break.

Her mother, who works as domestic maid, promised to give her the money in the evening after returning from work.
"However, the girl took the extreme step when there was no one in the house after I left the house," the victim's mother Iswari Nayak said.
The girl's father Bijaya Nayak, who worked as a daily wage worker, had recently suffered a paralytic stroke and was not working.
Locals said the mother was the sole breadwinner of the family.