Student’s death sparks tension

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The death of a schoolboy on Tuesday night in a hospital after he fell from the staircase last week in a government-aided school sparked tension in Choolai as relatives of the boy argued with the school management on Wednesday.

More than 100 family members and friends of the boy entered the Chengalvaraya Naicker trust school on General Collins road and had heated arguments with the school management.

They alleged that the school was negligent and failed to monitor the students while they were using the stairs.

According to police sources, Vijay, a class 6 student, was sliding down the banister and slipped from the second floor last Friday. The boy, who suffered head injury, was rushed to the Rajiv Gandhi Government General Hospital and died after a few days of treatment.

“Vijay is a playful boy and was loved by everyone in the locality. The school authorities should monitor students in future and prevent them from sliding down the stairs so that such a mishap would not recur,” said grieving aunt Velankanni. “Vijay lost his mother five years ago and was pampered by all the relatives and his demise is a huge loss for his father Ravi, a hotel worker,” said Ms Latha, another relative of the boy.

On Wednesday, a few headmen from the Thidir Nagar near Choolai, where Vijay was residing, barged into the school and had heated arguments with the staff and threatened dire consequences if monetary compensation was not given to the family.

“The boy slipped from the stairway and the management is blamed for his mistake. A group of people is warning us of dire consequences for no fault of ours,” a staff at the school rued.

Rumours that the boy’s family would be given Rs2 lakh compensation also made the rounds during the melee.