CHENNAI: A day after a class 10 student died after collapsing during the prayer meeting at his school in Thiru Vi Ka Nagar, CCTV footages from the school revealed the latecomers were allegedly forced to do a 'duck walk' in the playground, which the victim's parents suspect could have been the reason for his death.
M Narendran (15), a resident of Thiru Vi Ka Nagar, had reportedly reached school late. The student’s parents alleged that the boy was given a corporal punishment by asking him to go for a ‘duck walk’ as he came late for school, because of which they suspect he collapsed. However, school authorities denied the allegations.
The CCTV footage obtained from the school on Thursday revealed that a few children, believed to be of class 8, were made to run around the ground and a bunch of other students, including Narendaran, were made to do a 'duck walk' in the sun.
A police official said there were no external injury marks on the boy’s body. “On Wednesday, he had started from home at 8 am and reached school in 45 minutes. He along with two other students were asked to wait outside their classroom as they came late. This is when the students were made to go for a ‘duck walk’,” the father informed the police.
The staff who noticed the boy collapsing rushed him to a private hospital nearby from where he was referred to Government Stanley Hospital. He was declared brought dead by the doctors at the government hospital.