Staff Reporter
DOIMUKH, 2 Mar: A 12-year-old girl studying at Rising Star International School in Emchi near here in Papum Pare district died on the school’s campus on Friday.
The deceased, identified as Nabam Esther, was a Class 6 student.
The guardian of the deceased has claimed that two other 12-year-old girls were involved in the student’s death. Dr Chera Apung, the paternal aunt of the deceased, said that it was a murder. She said that she received a phone call from the school authorities, informing her that the student was in an unconscious state, and, upon enquiring, the school authorities informed that the girl died after falling down while playing.
The incident reportedly occurred on Friday, between 9:30 and 10 pm. The guardian claimed that the child died on the way to the hospital.
“The two other girls were moved out of the hostel in the night itself,” the guardian said, and appealed for “immediate arrest” and expediting the case.
Dr Apung said that parents had reported incidents of ragging in the school to the school authorities, and that the principal had given assurance that no ragging would be allowed in the school.
The parents of the deceased have requested the school to “vacate it for some time as a mark of peace for the departed soul.”
Meanwhile, All Papum Pare District Students’ Union president Gollo Lento mourned the child’s demise, and demanded that the case be settled “within 24 hours, since the case is not complicated.”
“This is not a new incident. Similar incidents in schools in Papum Pare, such as VKV Sher, Kimin, and Sangay Lhaden Sports Academy in Chimpu have witnessed ragging,” Lento said.
He requested the state government to “adequately check and balance the private schools as well as the government-run schools.”
“Private schools have no safety measures, and it reflects the state government’s failure to monitor schools,” Lento said.
He requested the parents and the guardians of the students to cooperate with the police and refrain from creating violence.
One of the parents said that the incident was a result of “negligence by the school authorities, as the warden does not stay with the students in the hostel and there is no security guard at the school gate.”
The parents complained that no CCTV cameras have been installed in the school’s hostel. They also highlighted the absence of medical aid and “lack of quality teachers,” despite the school’s taking hefty fees.
The parents said that the incident was a case of unnatural death, and demanded a free and fair investigation.
Doimukh Police Station OC Phassang Simi informed that both of the other two students have been detained at the police station and will be produced in the court on Saturday.
The postmortem was conducted at TRIHMS, and the body has been handed over to the parents, Simi informed.
The principal and the hostel warden of the school have been arrested, he added.
Meanwhile, members of the Arunachal Pradesh State Commission for Protection of Child Rights visited the parents of the deceased, and the commission has taken suo moto cognisance of the case.
