The Hindu : Front Page : Probe ordered into schoolgirl’s death

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Thursday, Jul 19, 2007
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Probe ordered into schoolgirl’s death

Staff Reporter

Upa Lokayukta sees serious dereliction of duty by Education Department

— Photo: V. Sreenivasa Murthy

CHILDREN’S SAFETY: Upa Lokayukta G. Patri Basavana Goud inspecting the building of Vasavi Vidyaniketan in Bangalore on Wednesday.

BANGALORE: Five-year-old Sonia Singh did not survive Tuesday’s fall from the first floor of Vasavi Vidyaniketan School in Visveswarapuram here.

Her death in a private hospital in the early hours of Wednesday led the State Government to order an inquiry and the Upa Lokayukta to initiate a preliminary probe after he found “serious dereliction of duty” by Education Department authorities and safety norm violations by the school management.

On a complaint by Sonia’s father, the Central police registered a case of negligence leading to death under Section 304 (A) of the Indian Penal Code.

But since no one was named as accused in the complaint, investigation is on to ascertain whose negligence led to the accident, Deputy Commissioner of Police (South) Alok Kumar told The Hindu.

Around 9.15 a.m. on Tuesday, a high school student had reportedly placed Sonia on a parapet while playing with her. Sonia, an upper kindergarten (UKG) student, slipped and fell down to the quadrangle of the school. Teachers rushed the girl, bleeding from her nose and ears, to a hospital. Following Sonia’s death, the school declared a holiday on Wednesday.

Mr. Alok Kumar said although there were eyewitnesses to the accident, they were unable to identify the girl who lifted Sonia on to the parapet. On suspicion, a girl was questioned and she claimed that she was not present at the spot and she was innocent, he said.

The police later asked the Public Works Department (PWD) to inspect the school building and check whether safety norms were violated. “If the PWD report indicates any violation, we will take up a case against the school management,” Mr. Alok Kumar said.

After Sonia died at a private hospital near South End Circle, her body was shifted to Victoria Hospital for autopsy. Later, the body was handed over to her parents. Sonia’s father. Ananthram Singh, works as a car driver for Umashankar, a former councillor from the Mavalli ward. Her mother, Uma Bai, is a homemaker. They are residents of Doddamavalli in the vicinity of the school.

Upa Lokayukta G. Patri Basavana Goud said there was “serious dereliction of duty” by the Education Department in allowing nursery sections to be housed on the first floor. While the school management was “seriously guilty of failing to take steps with regard to safety of the children”, the department authorities were guilty of not visiting the school and not exercising proper supervision with regard to safety measures, he said.

He asked the Commissioner of Public Instruction to instruct the Deputy Directors of Public Instruction (DDPIs) to compulsorily inspect every school building in their jurisdiction and ensure that safety measures were in place.

The DDPIs would be a given a month’s time to carry out the exercise. Eight days after the inspection, they should revisit the schools and check whether the suggested safety measures had been implemented.

“In case of an untoward incident at the school following absence of safety measures, the official who had inspected the respective school would be held criminally liable,” the Upa Lokayukta told presspersons.

In the Legislative Council, Revenue Minister Jagadish Shettar announced that the Government would act against the guilty. Raising the issue, BJP member Vimala Gowda had charged the school management with failure to ensure safety measures as the UKG section was on the first floor against the norms. The management, she alleged, had tried to wash its hands of the episode by blaming the victim for the incident.

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