Opposition Leader Persad-Bissessar vows justice for 15-year-old suicide victim bullied to death

Trinidad and Tobago: Opposition Leader Kamla Persad Bissessar has promised to ensure justice for a 15-year-old Form Four student of St Stephen’s College, Jayden Lalchan, who took his own life after alleged bullying. 

The teenager was found on Wednesday, October 3, hanging from an electrical wire around his neck in the bathroom of his house. 

Through a Facebook post, Persad Bissessar promised the parents of the victim, “I will ensure that a heavy price will be paid by all those involved in tormenting and terrorizing this child into taking his own life.”

She added that there are reports that Jayden Lalchan suffered tremendously over an extended period of abuse and bullying, and if these allegations are proven to be true, justice must be served on all who terrorized this beautiful child and all who turned a blind eye to his suffering.

Meanwhile, in the UNC’s weekly press briefing on Sunday, Chaguanas East MP Vandana Mohit supported her political leaders' call for justice. He claimed the suicide victim was failed by a lack of preventative measures.

He further called on the incumbent government to step up and act and said that there is a need for the state’s approach to moving beyond a suicide hotline.

Notably, the mother of the child, Fareeda Lalchan, alleged that the school took no action to stop the bullying, which she believes is the reason her son is now dead.

She claimed that her son had made several complaints to the principal and the dean of the college regarding the alleged bullying, but the school did not take any action.

The abuse increased to the extent that Jayden was scared to come out of his classroom even because he believed that the bullies and his friends would torture him after school, said the grieving mother.

In addition to this, Gender and Child Affairs Minister Ayanna Webster Roy also said that she was deeply saddened by the young boy's passing. She said, “As a parent myself, I can only imagine the immense pain and sorrow they must be experiencing.”

The incident has sent shockwaves across Trinidad and Tobago, with officials conducting investigations to go to the depth of the circumstances which led to the young boy committing suicide.