Mystery shrouds over Albert Antony's death

ALAPPUZHA: Mystery surrounds the death of  Albert Antony, class X student of Leo XIII Higher Secondary School here, who was found hanging in his house on July 21 last.

A suicide note found from his rented house at  ward number 5  of Aryad panchayat said: "I want no longer to live with people who don't understand me."  Albert, who had passed  class IX with above B-plus marks in all subjects, was the second child of  Reshma Rodrigues,  whose elder son P.A. Vincent, 19, is a school dropout.

Reshma's husband, a native of Odisha, had abandoned  her  when she was pregnant with Albert.  They had  lived together in Odisha for five years. Later, when Albert was five-month-old, Reshma with her children  came to Alappuzha. She  lived in rented houses after accommodating her kids at different orphanages, including  Thanal charitable home, Thumboly here, Mercy home, Chalakkudy,  and St. Antony's orphanage run by the same management of Leo XIII School.   At the time of Albert's death,  Reshma was working at a shop, Saramas Chemicals,  at  Kaichoondy junction near here.

It is said that  the boy ended his life after his  mother scolded him for not attending the school. Her class teacher had telephoned her saying that he was absent and was wandering in the town.

Earlier, Albert and his  classmate Jithu were suspended from the school on charges of picking up a fight with the English medium students. Though Jithu was readmitted after his father was summoned to the school,  Albert  did not tell his mother about the incident and did not attend the classes.

Albert was also expelled from St. Antony's orphanage after one of his roommates stole  money from the orphanage chest and bought a mobile phone.

Reshma and her elder son are now living  in a single-room house near Thalavady temple here.

Mr Abdul Khadar, Sub-Inspector, north  police, who prepared the inquest,  said that he had closed the file as the boy had  hanged himself. 

"We didn't probe  why he refused to go to school, because nobody asked us about it," he said.

The police have not  so far given the copy of the post-mortem report to the mother.