Ahmedabad mourns student’s death with protests, shutdown
Shops and schools in Khokhra were closed as Bajrang Dal, VHP, and NSUI protested outside Seventh Day Adventist School after a student was allegedly killed by a classmate
Two days after the death of a Class 10 student at Seventh Day Adventist School in Khokhra, Ahmedabad, shops, schools, and private offices in the area remained closed in protest.
Members of Bajrang Dal, Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP), and the National Students’ Union of India (NSUI), the student body of the Congress, protested outside the school campus for two consecutive days, demanding “justice for the victim” . While the Bajrang Dal and the VHP protested over the community background of the students involved, the NSUI raised slogans against the school authorities.
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The school has remained closed, and police have been deployed in the area after protesters assaulted teachers and the school principal and vandalised school property on August 21.
Eyewitness account
The incident that sparked the protest occurred on August 20. The 15-year-old student succumbed to injuries after being allegedly stabbed by another student of the same school near the main gate during dismissal. However, authorities reportedly did not rush the victim to the hospital.
“I had come to pick up my daughter when I heard a scream and saw the child running towards the school gate. He was visibly bleeding, yet the guards standing at the school gate did not move at all; they just stood there. When the boy collapsed at the gate, two students came running and took him inside. Many of us parents at the spot were shocked at the response of the school management. When we raised an alarm, the principal said they had called the child’s parents and were waiting for them to arrive,” said Hemali Joshi, whose child also studies at Seventh Day Adventist School.
“The parents and relatives of the child arrived around 40 minutes later and took him to a nearby private hospital. He lay on a school bench for nearly 40 minutes while bleeding. Perhaps he would have survived if he had received immediate medical attention,” added Joshi, an eyewitness to the incident.
Verbal feud to blame?
Reportedly, the incident followed a verbal feud between the two students. The accused had been threatening the victim on WhatsApp. On August 20, he reportedly managed to sneak a vernier caliper, a measuring instrument, from the physics laboratory and used it to stab the victim multiple times.
“The accused was picked up from home and placed under juvenile detention on August 20. Since the victim, the accused, and the majority of eyewitnesses are juveniles, we are not revealing their names. The case has been transferred to the Crime Branch of Police, Ahmedabad. We have obtained the CCTV footage from the school on the day of the incident and will review it before beginning interrogation of the prime accused,” said Sharad Singhal, Joint Commissioner of Police, Crime Branch, Ahmedabad.
“We are also interrogating the family members of the juvenile accused to determine if there were any deeper motives beyond school rivalry,” added Singhal.
Detailed response sought
Meanwhile, the Seventh Day Adventist School has been served with notices by the District Education Officer (DEO), Ahmedabad, and the Gujarat State Commission for Protection of Child Rights, seeking a report from the school authorities on the incident.
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“The school authorities have been asked to submit a detailed response on how the incident happened. We have raised several questions: where was the school security when the incident occurred, and why did they not intervene? When the student returned to school bleeding after being stabbed near the campus, why did the authorities not rush him to a hospital or call an ambulance? The victim was bleeding profusely, according to prima facie reports. Why did the school not provide first aid? And how did a student manage to take a laboratory instrument out of the school?” said Rohit Chaudhary, the District Education Officer (DEO) of Ahmedabad.
“The school management has been asked to submit its report within 48 hours. There is no doubt that there has been negligence on the part of the school management. We are awaiting their response and will act accordingly,” Chaudhary told The Federal.
Dr G Immanuel, the principal of the school, and members of the disciplinary committee were not available for comment on the issue.
