Sambalpur, November 30: A 16-year-old student tried to die by suicide in Odisha's Sambalpur district after being allegedly slapped by a retired lecturer from whom he had borrowed Rs 10,000 but was not being able to repay, police said on Tuesday. The boy, a student of BRG Plus-II College in Bhojpur, also runs a paan shop in the area, they said.

He borrowed Rs 10,000 from the retired lecturer of Jamankira College, which, he was supposed to pay back with interest, they added. As he was unable to repay the loan, the retired lecturer on Monday went to BRG College, where the boy studies, and slapped him in a classroom full of students, police said. Omicron Scare: Bengaluru Family Robbed on Pretext of Administering Vaccine Against the New Variant.

Humiliated in front of his classmates, the boy bought pesticide from the market and consumed it, they said. The boy is at present undergoing treatment at the Kuchinda sub-divisional hospital and his condition is stated to be critical, police said. The matter is being probed and a case will be registered, said Sobhakara Seth, the inspector-in-charge of Kuchinda police station.