Girl falls from 3rd floor of school, dies; Bus conductor tries

A class 9 student fell to her death from the third floor of a school building in Deoria, while a bus conductor tried to molest a nine-year-old girl in Bareilly, days after the Uttar Pradesh police issued directives on safety and security in education institutes.

The father of the 15-year-old student of Modern City Montessori school in Deoria has alleged that she was pushed from the building yesterday. The district administration has formed a three-member team to check if there were any lapses in safety and security aspects of the co-educational school.

Acting on the father's complaint that his daughter could not have committed suicide, the police have registered a case against unknown persons, SP of Deoria Rajiv Malhotra said.
 

The girl had reportedly gone to the toilet on the third floor of the school when the incident took place. She was taken to a local hospital, which referred her to BRD Medical College in Gorakhpur, 60 km from Deoria. She succumbed to her injuries on the way, the official said.

"It has emerged that the CCTVs at the school are not functioning," the SP said.

The girl's father has demanded an impartial probe into her death.

SDM Sadar (Deoria) Rakesh Singh said, "The district magistrate has formed a three-member team to probe whether the school was functioning as per norms. The team comprises a sub-divisional magistrate, district inspector of school (DIOS) and basic shiksha adhikari."

It may also look into whether safety and security aspects were adhered to by the school, he said.

"When we visited the school earlier in the day, there were few teachers. The principal was not there," the SDM said, adding that the team waited for sometime to meet the principal.

According to the post-mortem report, the girl suffered shock and haemorrhage due to internal injuries, the SP said.

Police said the school has remained closed since the news about the death of the student broke.

In Bareilly, a school bus conductor allegedly tried to molest a nine-year-old girl on September 16, following which the accused was arrested, while some school staff, who beat up and held captive the student's father when he went to speak to them about the incident, have been booked.

After the girl's family members noticed a change in her behaviour, they questioned her and the class three student narrated the incident to them, the police said.

Yesterday, her father went to Radha Madhav Public School, where the girl was studying, but instead of listening to him, the staff there allegedly beat him up and held him captive. He was rescued by the police, Senior Superintendent of Police Jogendra Kumar said.

The accused conductor, Ajay Mishra, has been arrested, while an FIR has been registered against the school principal and unnamed staff, the police officer said.

There was laxity on part of the school management and a probe into the matter is on, the SSP said.