Indian-origin teen ends life over marks in England

An 18-year-old Indian-origin girl in the UK committed suicide after missing out on the top scores she needed to meet the cut-off for her first choice university, her inquest was told.

Harpreet Kaur Hallaith, from Wolverhampton in the West Midlands region of England, is believed to have jumped to death and her body was found at High Rock, a beauty spot in Bridgnorth, Shropshire, a day after she was reported missing by her parents in August.

A suicide note was also recovered, her inquest at Shropshire Coroner’s Court was told this week. “I can’t think what Harpreet was thinking that day but I can’t think she really intended to take her own life,” her mother said.

“She was a happy child (who) loved school and had a lot of friends. She developed a keen interest in languages and history. Harpreet was always very popular,” she added.

John Ellery, the coroner, recorded a verdict of suicide with the cause of death as multiple injuries.

Harpreet was a bright student from Wolverhampton Girls High School but had started to feel stressed about her exams earlier this year.

The teenager needed two A* grades and one A to secure a place at Durham University reading Russian and History.

On August 18, she learnt that she had one A and two Bs in Russian, Latin and History.

However, she had been informed by email that her grades were good enough to get into her second choice, the University of Edinburgh. She left home for a walk after learning of her results and was reported missing by her parents when she failed to return home a few hours later.