Appeal against HC verdict: Kin of school fire victims pin hopes on State

A father says, I am as distraught now as I was then

Distraught parents of the children who died in the Kumbakonam school fire at the memorial to offer prayers.

“Coming to know of the Madras High Court verdict, my memories went back to that fateful day on July 16, 2004, when I was holding in my arms the completely charred body of my eight-year-old son Vignesh. I am as distraught now as I was then,” rues R. Mahesh of Kumbakonam.

He was reflecting the collective shock, anguish and distress of the parents of all the children whose life was cut short in the inferno that engulfed the Sri Krishna School in the temple town killing 94 and maiming 18 others who are suffering to date. The Madras High Court on Thursday delivered a verdict that ensured the release of all the convicts and the accused in the school fire case.

``What if we happen to see the murders who traded our children with death for profiteering in the business of education by bending the rules to suit their whims on the streets of Kumbakonam? They are now free and we continue to to suffer in silence. How can you accept that reality?'' asks another parent Inbaraj who lost his two wards in that gory incident.

While the distraught male parents are talking of legal options, the forlorn mothers are shell-shocked. ``After hearing the verdict, I have lost the urge to eat. After all it is this stomach that gave birth to the child who was roasted alive by the callousness of the convicted. How can I fill it with food?, sobs Jayalakshmi reaching out with her fingers the name of her child on the plaque that remembers all the victims of the school fire at the special memorial erected in the town.

Former President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam told the suffering parents once and it is evergreen in our hearts: ``Don't ever think your children have died. Believe they are serving in the Army, to save other children from meeting the same fate.''

The verdict has shattered the comforting thought forever, regret other parents who came to the memorial during the day to offer prayers.

They offered floral tributes and also lit candles at the spot where the incident took place.

Though our loss is permanent, we fervently appeal to the State Government to mitigate our suffering by preferring an appeal against the Madras High Court verdict and render justice to the innocent dead children and us parents who are treading this earth as living dead, pleads Mr. Mahesh as he joins others in silently stating before the scroll that bears the names of the victims, their helplessness in getting justice for the tender lives lost to fire and insensitivity.