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Is it too early to call Virar deaths suicide?

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The Palghar police have arrested two teachers – Ripusudan Garg and Sandeep Palwa – from the Vagad Gurukul International school at Sakwar village of Virar, after the mysterious deaths of three class 9 students. The bodies of the three children were found behind the school.

Garg taught Sanskrit and Palwa is a PT teacher.

Parents of the three students, however, wondered how the police could call it a suicide when they suspect foul play and even before the post-mortem reports are out. The three boys were Prahul Patel, Kushal Dhada and Meet Chadwa. They were beaten up with belts and shoes by the two teachers on Monday for scoring low marks.

What are the parents of the three boys saying?
Suresh Chadhwa, father of Meet, says calling it a suicide "is very unfair as it would mean the police declaring our kids as cowards who could not face the challenges in life and ended their lives because they were beaten up by a teacher." Narayan Patel, father of Prahul, is also irked over the police decision to call it a suicide, especially before the post mortem reports were out. Parents claim the students might have been killed and dumped by the teachers, fearing that the children will tell their parents incidents of sexual harassment and physical assault.

According to the parents, what really happened?
"Logically, 14- year-old kids would not end their lives just because they were beaten up. The kids were killed and were dumped in the marshy land. The statements given by the police are completely wrong," said Narayan Patel.

What's the police version?
Shrikrishna Kokate, additional superintendent of police, says: "We have taken the statement of the parent (Patel). It has been signed by him and it clearly mentions that the beating drove his son to suicide. We are investigating further and the post-mortem report will be given to us in a couple of days. If we find stringent further sections are to be applied, we will proceed further."

What are the charges against the teachers now?
Both the teachers have been charged under Sections 305 (abetment of suicide of child or insane person), 324 (voluntarily causing grievous hurt), 34 (common intent) of the Indian Penal Code and under Section 23 (punishment for cruelty to juvenile or child) of the juvenile justice(care and protection of children Act,) 2000.

What's the school management saying?
The school management's version is that the three students tried to escape from the hostel and got drowned after slipping in the stream. But parents ask how can the three of them slip together. The police claimed to solve the case by calling it suicide in depression as per the statement of Suresh Chadwa.

Will post-mortem reports help?
"It looks like a drowning case," a doctor said. Forensic doctors said they don't suspect foul play. Sources at the forensic department of JJ Hospital, Byculla, where the post-mortems were conducted on Wednesday night, told dna there were minor head injuries and a blunt injury on the hand of two boys. The reports failed to give much leads and doctors decided to reserve the findings and send viscera samples for histopathology and chemical analysis.

What are other parents saying?

After the news of the three kids, other parents flocked to the school to seek clarifications on the safety measures of their kids. Police officials also held a meeting with the school and asked parents to take their wards into confidence and seek details about the assault case.

What's the Child Rights Commission saying?
AN Tripathi, secretary, Maharashtra State Commission for Protection of Child Rights, said: 'Soon after the news of the deaths, we have sent a letter to both the school and the police to send us a report. We will keep hearing on this after going through the report. Corporal punishment is banned across the country. If any teacher is found guilty, punishment, according to the grade of injury, is there."



 

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