A 29-year-old teacher, Aleena Benny, working at St. Joseph’s Lower Primary School in Kodenchery, Kozhikode, was found dead at her home on the afternoon of 19 February 2025 in a suspected case of suicide. Her family has alleged that years of unpaid wages and mismanagement by the Catholic-run school’s administration led to her extreme step.
Aleena had initially been appointed at Nazareth Lower Primary School in Kattippara, also under the Thamarassery diocese corporate management, but lost her job when the previous occupant of the post returned. Her family claimed that she had to pay ₹13 lakh to secure the job. When she was later transferred to St. Joseph’s LP School in June 2024, she was allegedly forced to sign an undertaking stating that she would not claim a salary for her five years of service at Kattippara. Despite assurances that her new posting would be regularized, her salary remained unpaid, and she relied on ₹3,000 per month from the school’s PTA for transport expenses.
Her father, Benny, directly blamed the school management for her death, accusing them of failing to submit the necessary documents for her appointment to be approved. “The church management did not pay her a single paisa. They told me there were teachers who hadn’t been paid for nine years, but they could have taken steps for my daughter,” he alleged.
Responding to the allegations, Fr. Joseph Varghese, manager of the Thamarassery Diocese Corporate Educational Agency, claimed that several teachers under the diocese were awaiting salary approvals, including Aleena. He attributed the issue to technical delays in government approval but did not address the claims of financial mismanagement.
Kerala Education Minister V. Sivankutty has directed the Director General of Education to investigate the matter, stating that action will be taken based on the findings. Meanwhile, the Catholic Teachers Guild has blamed negligence by education department authorities for the delay in Aleena’s appointment approval.
Her death has sparked widespread outrage, with calls for accountability and reforms in the appointment and salary disbursement of teachers in government-aided schools.
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