Three school officials suspended after 11-year-old pupil dies in Thane

The principal and two other officials at a government-run residential school in Maharashtra’s Thane district have been suspended after 11-year-old Vivek Subhash Bhoye died. Police are investigating his mother’s allegation that the school failed to arrange timely medical care, officials said on October 10.

Vivek was a Class 5 pupil at the school in Pise, in Bhiwandi taluka. Police said he had reportedly experienced a high fever for about four days before the administration contacted his mother on the morning of October 9.

In her complaint, she said warden Rahul Zanjal called to tell her that her son was ill and would be taken to the government hospital in Shahapur. When she reached the school, she found him struggling to breathe. She alleged that principal Jaywant Saple, Zanjal and class teacher Ashok Salve dismissed her questions about why she had not been informed earlier and why he had not received appropriate treatment.

The mother and school officials took the boy to hospital, where doctors began treating him. He died about half an hour later. A police official said staff allegedly told the family to wait outside and left the hospital after the death.

Tribal Development Department project officer Rajashri Galande told PTI that the principal, warden and teacher had been suspended for negligence following an immediate inquiry.

Shahapur police registered a case against the three officials under provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act. The investigation remains under way. Police reported no arrests at the time of the statement.

Local residents and tribal organisations protested outside the department’s office in Shahapur and initially refused to collect the boy’s body. Officials said the dispute was resolved after the suspensions and the registration of the criminal case.