Principal of Nirmala Rani Convent, a Kannada medium primary school, on Malleswaram 17th Cross was found dead in an under-construction building on the school premises on Friday morning.
The body of Sister Noella (58) was found in the basement of the new building by a construction worker. She had sustained severe head injuries besides some on her limbs. Police suspect she might have slipped from the stairs and fallen onto the basement.
“One of the workers found the body when he stepped out of his shed at around 6.30 a.m. We reside just behind the building but did not hear any noise of her falling down. The worker then informed the construction engineer,” said a worker, who said they usually started work around 9 a.m.
Additional classrooms are being built in the new building that has three floors and a terrace. However, no one knows which floor Sister Noella might have fallen from. Police suspect she might have slipped from the stairs and fallen onto the basement. The stair case does not have railings.
Staff members said Sister Noella would usually go for a walk at around 5.30 a.m. She would go outside and sometimes walk around the building and talk to children. However, no one was aware that she had gone up the building on Friday morning.
Sister Stella of Nirmala Rani Convent said they had a mass around 6.45 a.m. “When Sister Noella didn’t turn up for the mass, one of the sisters went to her room and found it locked from outside. We assumed she had gone outside. It was only when we got a call from the engineer that we came to know that she had fallen,” she said.
The Malleswaram police shifted her to hospital and the post-mortem was conducted at Victoria Hospital.
