Sarvodaya Government School students on warpath for javelin mishap

Demand action against principal and negligent staff

October 04, 2013 12:46 pm | Updated November 16, 2021 12:48 pm IST - NEW DELHI:

Students of a government school block a road at Chittaranjan Park in Delhi on Thursday, protesting against the school authorities after a student was seriously injured in a javelin mishap on the playground.

Students of a government school block a road at Chittaranjan Park in Delhi on Thursday, protesting against the school authorities after a student was seriously injured in a javelin mishap on the playground.

The family of Roshan Lama -- the 11-year-old boy who is being treated at the All-India Institute of Medical Sciences here for the head injury that he sustained after being accidently hit by a javelin in his school two days ago -- was on Thursday joined by Roshan’s schoolmates in demanding action against all those responsible for the alleged negligence that caused the mishap.

A large number of students from the Sarvodaya Government School in Chittaranjan Park, where the victim is enrolled in Class VI, gathered outside the school and the neighbouring roads alleging that Sunil Sharma, the physical instructor who has been arrested for negligence, has a record of misbehaving with students. Joined by some of Roshan’s relatives, they also demanded that action be taken against the principal of the school as well.

During the protest that lasted for a couple of hours, the students damaged vehicles including cars parked outside the school and some even pelted stones on vehicles passing by. They targeted the school compound and vandalised paintings and flower pots kept there.

Besides raising slogans against the school management and the police, carrying posters with “Justice for Roshan” , the students also accused some of the other teachers of coming to the class under the influence of alcohol. The school, authorities, denied these charges.

The protesters said they had planned to protest on Wednesday itself but as the school was closed on account of Gandhi Jayanti, the authorities were not present there.

“When the students were practicing javelin throw, there was no teacher or support staff to monitor. Even after Roshan was hit by the spear, there was no immediate response from the staff members to attend to him,” said one of them. Area residents, who were stuck in the traffic, bore the brunt of the angst of the students.

“A large number of students blocked the road opposite Nehru Apartments and did not allow any vehicles to pass through. All of them were in uniform and tried to block traffic in every way possible. They were throwing stones at the vehicles and even heckled the people driving them. Forward movement obstructed, some of them tried to reverse the vehicle but were stopped from the other side as well leading to chaotic situation on the road,” said a resident of C.R. Park.

The policemen who visited the spot tried to pacify the students and assured them of swift action against all those involved and managed to bring the situation under control by 3 p.m.

Roshan continues to remain critical at the intensive care unit of the hospital and his father Surajbhan was told by the doctors at AIIMS said that chances of his son’s survival were very bleak.

“We are hoping for a miracle,” he said.

0 / 0
Sign in to unlock member-only benefits!
  • Access 10 free stories every month
  • Save stories to read later
  • Access to comment on every story
  • Sign-up/manage your newsletter subscriptions with a single click
  • Get notified by email for early access to discounts & offers on our products
Sign in

Comments

Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.

We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of The Hindu and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.