‘No salary for 6 yrs’: Catholic school teacher in Kozhikode dies by suicide
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Kozhikode: A 29-year-old teacher at a Catholic-run school in Kerala has died by suicide after allegedly being denied her salary for the past six years.
The deceased, identified as Aleena Benny, was a teacher at St Joseph’s Lower Primary School in Kodenchery, Kozhikode district. She was found dead at her home on Wednesday afternoon. The school is managed by the Catholic diocese of Thamarassery.
Kerala Education Minister V Sivankutty termed the incident unfortunate and directed the Director General of Education to investigate. “Once I receive the report, appropriate action will be taken,” he told the media.
Aleena had previously worked at another school under the same management for five years before joining St Joseph’s in June 2024. However, she had allegedly not received any salary for the last six years.
Her father, Benny, blamed the school management for her death, stating that Aleena’s employment began at Nazareth Lower Primary School in Kattippara under the Thamarassery diocese. She was appointed in a dismissed vacancy (created due to an employee’s suspension), but when the suspended employee was reinstated, Aleena lost her job.
“When we intervened, the management offered her a fresh posting at St Joseph’s last June. However, the educational agency under the diocese forced her to submit a written statement that she did not want any salary for her five years of service at the previous school. She complied, hoping her appointment would be regularized, but she remained deeply distressed over the non-payment of her salary,” Benny alleged.
He further claimed that the school’s Parent-Teacher Association (PTA) had been collecting money for Aleena’s daily bus fare, while the church management did not offer any financial assistance. “We had paid a huge sum to the management to secure her job,” he alleged.
Fr Joseph Varghese, manager of the Thamarassery diocese’s corporate educational agency, stated that several teachers like Aleena were working in schools under the agency without salaries. “Her application for permanent appointment had been submitted to the education department, but it has not been cleared due to technical issues,” he said.
However, Aleena’s father dismissed the management’s claims, saying he had repeatedly met the corporate manager but was told that some teachers had gone without salaries for nine years. “They could have done something to pay my daughter,” he said.
The tragic incident has sparked outrage, raising serious concerns over the plight of teachers working in aided institutions under private managements in Kerala.