Kerala: Headmistress suspended for laxity over school boy's electrocution incident

Kollam (Kerala), July 18 (IANS) Following a massive public resentment over the tragic incident when a 13-year-old boy was electrocuted while trying to retrieve a footwear from the rooftop of a school in Kerala on July 17, the headmistress was suspended on Friday.

The ghastly incident took place just before classes began at the state-supported Boys School, Thevelekkara, the school children were playing on the ground when the footwear of a student got stuck on the top of a roof.

The electric line was passing over the roof where the footwear was lying. Mithun, a Class 8 student, climbed onto the top of the roof but slipped and came in contact with a sagging live electric wire.

Despite the best efforts, Mithun's life could not be saved.

Since the incident took place there was huge public outrage over the ways how insensitive the officials who are entrusted with the job of giving fitness certificate to schools.

The blame game started with the Kerala State Electricity Board and the school management blaming each other and the State Education Minister V. Sivankutty asking what was the school headmistress and the staff doing .

On Friday evening, the school management suspended Headmistress S. Sujatha based on a report submitted to the Education authorities that there was laxity on the part of the school authorities.

Shocked by the massive outrage soon after the incident took place, Sujatha fell ill and she is currently under treatment in a hospital.

The state government has handed over a cheque of Rs 5 lakh to Mithun’s family and the National Service Scheme of the school has announced they will build a new home for Mithun’s parents.

His father is a mason and his mother works as a domestic help in Kuwait.

The mother is expected to arrive from Kuwait on Saturday morning and the funeral is to take place in the evening.

Reacting to the incident, Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi, who was in the state on a day long visit took to his social media and wrote: “Six years ago, I had written to the Chief Minister of Kerala urging a comprehensive infrastructure audit of schools, after the heartbreaking death of a young girl due to a snakebite inside her classroom. It pains me deeply that another precious life - 13 year-old Mithun Manu - has been lost to electrocution from a sagging power line within a school compound in Kollam.

"I urge the Kerala government to immediately undertake a time-bound, public audit and upgradation of all school infrastructure in the state and fix responsibility for this tragedy. No parent should have to endure such unimaginable loss. Every child has the right to a safe learning environment."

--IANS

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