Karawal Nagar student’s death: Principal arrested

NEW DELHI: Four days after a 14-year-old boy died when he was allegedly thrashed by his classmates in northeast Delhi’s Shiv Vihar near Karawal Nagar, the police have arrested the school principal and charged him with causing death due to negligence.
It was found that the school was not recognised by any of the agencies.
Three children have also been apprehended in the case.The boy was allegedly beaten up for protesting against being called “fat”. Vireshwar Kumar, the school principal, had earlier told police that he got to know about the incident when some students reported that one of their classmates had “fainted”. The student was taken all the way to a hospital in Ghaziabad’s Loni where he was declared dead.
However, sources said, it later emerged that the incident happened in the presence of the principal. The three teenagers detained by the cops said the victim, Prince, hurled abuses at them after they teased him for being “healthy”. A fight ensued, but other students intervened. Later, their “group leader” — the other teenager apprehended on the day of the incident itself — decided to teach Prince a lesson.
“We have registered a case of causing death due to negligence against the principal and detained three other teenagers who had pushed the boy against a desk, leading to his death,” DCP (northeast) Ajit K Singla.
Police said it was found that Kumar intentionally didn’t inform the boy’s family about the incident and took him to a hospital in UP to avoid alerting Delhi cops.
Saraswati Vidya Public School, the Delhi Commission for Protection of Child Rights found, was not recognised. Anurag Kundu, a member of DCPCR, told TOI that the school had been granted temporary recognition under the Right to Education Act on October 29, 2013, to upgrade its facilities within a year. This recognition — granted up to Class V — ended on October 28, 2014.
Kundu said EDMC sent eight reminders to the school to apply for recognition, but these were ignored. He said the school didn’t have water coolers, blackboards, desks or any fire safety measures in place. The DCPCR will issue showcause notices to EDMC for not acting against the school.