Boy dies in class after vomiting, family blame staff
Relatives of Arjun Singh Jena, 5, allege that Shahad schoolteachers failed to tend to him and simply asked him to lie down on the last bench.
A senior KG student died mysteriously in his class after vomiting during the lunch break on Tuesday morning.
Five-year-old Arjun Singh Jena, who studied in Cenray Toddlers’ Academy in Shahad near Kalyan, threw up after having home-cooked food and was asked by his teacher to lie down on the last bench.
The boy’s relatives have accused the school of negligence, saying they failed to alert his parents about his poor health or call a doctor. They believe Arjun choked on his own vomit after the school staff failed to tend to him.
The school, however, denied the charges. It has filed a police complaint against the relatives after they allegedly assaulted the principal, P N Pal, and damaged school property.
The Ulhasnagar police, under who jurisdiction the school falls, refused to comment on the cause of death, saying they would wait for the post-mortem report.
Cenray Toddlers’ Academy reopened after the summer break on Tuesday. Maya said that Arjun and her elder second son, Karan, were very excited to return to school and meet their friends. Karan is a Std III student.
“I dropped them off at 7.30 am and gave them their lunch boxes containing roti sabzi. Arjun seemed absolutely fine then,” she said.
Around 8 am, during the recess, Arjun had his lunch and within minutes, he vomited. His class teacher asked him to lie down on the last bench FOR some time.
While the school claims that his parents were promptly alerted, Maya said that she received no such call and went there to pick up her sons at 10.30 am when the last pre-primary class ends.
“When I reached there, Arjun’s class teacher, Prema, told me that he was sleeping on the last bench as he was not feeling well. I went to wake him up, but he did not respond. We immediately took him to a hospital then,” said Maya, whose husband works as a cook in a hotel in Raigad.
Arjun was admitted to the nearby Century Hospital, where he was declared brought dead. His body was taken to Rukminibai Municipal Hospital in Kalyan for a post-mortem.
The family, in the meantime, filed a complaint of negligence against the school.
“The school had my and my husband’s phone numbers. They could have at least informed us that our son was not feeling well. Instead, the teacher simply asked him to lie down. They didn’t even clean him up after he vomited,” Maya said. “The school is responsible for our son’s death.”
Inspector Ghanshyam Palange of the Ulhasnagar police station said that a case of accidental death had been registered for now. “We will take further action after seeing the post-mortem report,” he said.
Brig (retd) VPPS Gusain, senior general manager of the school’s administration, provided a different account of the events leading up to Arjun’s death. He said that after Arjun threw up, his parents were contacted.
“The child’s mother and relatives promptly came to the school and rushed the child to Century Hospital, where the he was administered treatment. Regrettably, the child did not recover and passed away in 20 minutes. The cause of death would be known only after the post-mortem,” Gusain said.
He added that a mob gathered at the school and ransacked its property. The management had filed a police complaint for the same, and would not conduct classes on Wednesday to protest the vandalism.
A senior KG student died mysteriously in his class after vomiting during the lunch break on Tuesday morning.
Five-year-old Arjun Singh Jena, who studied in Cenray Toddlers’ Academy in Shahad near Kalyan, threw up after having home-cooked food and was asked by his teacher to lie down on the last bench.
When his mother, Maya, came to take him home, he was unresponsive. Arjun was rushed to a hospital, where doctors declared him brought dead.
The boy’s relatives have accused the school of negligence, saying they failed to alert his parents about his poor health or call a doctor. They believe Arjun choked on his own vomit after the school staff failed to tend to him.
The school, however, denied the charges. It has filed a police complaint against the relatives after they allegedly assaulted the principal, P N Pal, and damaged school property.
The Ulhasnagar police, under who jurisdiction the school falls, refused to comment on the cause of death, saying they would wait for the post-mortem report.
Cenray Toddlers’ Academy reopened after the summer break on Tuesday. Maya said that Arjun and her elder second son, Karan, were very excited to return to school and meet their friends. Karan is a Std III student.
“I dropped them off at 7.30 am and gave them their lunch boxes containing roti sabzi. Arjun seemed absolutely fine then,” she said.
Around 8 am, during the recess, Arjun had his lunch and within minutes, he vomited. His class teacher asked him to lie down on the last bench FOR some time.
While the school claims that his parents were promptly alerted, Maya said that she received no such call and went there to pick up her sons at 10.30 am when the last pre-primary class ends.
“When I reached there, Arjun’s class teacher, Prema, told me that he was sleeping on the last bench as he was not feeling well. I went to wake him up, but he did not respond. We immediately took him to a hospital then,” said Maya, whose husband works as a cook in a hotel in Raigad.
Arjun was admitted to the nearby Century Hospital, where he was declared brought dead. His body was taken to Rukminibai Municipal Hospital in Kalyan for a post-mortem.
The family, in the meantime, filed a complaint of negligence against the school.
“The school had my and my husband’s phone numbers. They could have at least informed us that our son was not feeling well. Instead, the teacher simply asked him to lie down. They didn’t even clean him up after he vomited,” Maya said. “The school is responsible for our son’s death.”
Inspector Ghanshyam Palange of the Ulhasnagar police station said that a case of accidental death had been registered for now. “We will take further action after seeing the post-mortem report,” he said.
Brig (retd) VPPS Gusain, senior general manager of the school’s administration, provided a different account of the events leading up to Arjun’s death. He said that after Arjun threw up, his parents were contacted.
“The child’s mother and relatives promptly came to the school and rushed the child to Century Hospital, where the he was administered treatment. Regrettably, the child did not recover and passed away in 20 minutes. The cause of death would be known only after the post-mortem,” Gusain said.
He added that a mob gathered at the school and ransacked its property. The management had filed a police complaint for the same, and would not conduct classes on Wednesday to protest the vandalism.
