Kerala Health Minister K.K. Shylaja has tasked Additional Director, Health Department-Vigilance, to probe the death of 10-year-old Shehala Sherin, who was bitten by a snake in her classroom at the Government Sarvajana Higher Secondary School in Sulthan Bathery, Wayanad, on November 20.
She had on Thursday placed the doctor at the Bathery taluk hospital, who treated the child initially, under suspension.
Judge visits school
Wayanad district sessions judge A. Harris visited the school on Friday and surveyed the sorry state of the school and its premises. He said it was unfortunate. “We are taking the situation seriously,” he told reporters.
District Child Welfare Committee president K. Aravindakshan said that based on newspaper reports on the death of the student, they had registered a case.
The State Human Rights Commission and the Kerala State Commission for Protection of Child Rights have registered separate cases.
Meanwhile, the District Disaster Management Authority (DDMA) has ordered that the authorities take steps to ensure the safety of students in schools and anganwadis in the district.
In an urgent order issued on Saturday, the District Collector, who is also the DDMA Chairman, directed that the authorities take urgent steps to renovate decrepit classrooms in all schools and anganwadis. The order was issued as per the Disaster Management Act, a press release said. The order also instructed secretaries of local self-government institutions to ensure that educational institutions under their jurisdiction were safe.
Case to be registered
Meanwhile, the Kerala police is set to register a case for culpable homicide not amounting to murder under Section 304 (A) of the Indian Penal Code in connection with the death of the girl.
Officials said that the Deputy Superintendent of Police, Special Branch, Wayanad, had recommended the registration of a case to set in motion a criminal investigation into the allegations surrounding the girl’s death.
They include the accusation by fellow students and locals that the school authorities wilfully neglected Sherin’s repeated assertions that a snake had bit her in the classroom while feet was above a crack on the floor.
