KENDRAPARA: A four-year-old preschool girl suffered serious burn injuries after accidentally falling into a boiling pot of water meant for cooking rice at an anganwadi centre of a government school here on Wednesday.
The shocking incident took place in Jagannath upper primary school at Charigaon village under Nikirai police limits. The girl, Debanshi Das of Kadaligorada Sahi, sustained burns on her back and belly. She was initially admitted to Kendrapara district headquarters hospital and later shifted to Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel Post Graduate Institute of Paediatrics (Sishu Bhawan), Cuttack for advanced treatment.
Anganwadi worker Itishree Parida said the incident occurred when the cook was preparing meals in the school kitchen. Debanshi, a student of the anganwadi centre within the school premises, came to the kitchen with her grandmother and accidently fell into the utensil filled with hot water. Though the kid was immediately rescued by one of the cooks, she sustained severe burn injuries.
The incident sparked outrage among parents and locals, who demanded strict action against the school authorities and anganwadi workers.
Calling it an unfortunate incident, school headmaster Motiur Rahman said, “The anganwadi centre has a separate kitchen. The kid wrongly entered the school kitchen with her grandmother. We are questioning the cooks, teachers and other students in connection with the incident.”
Child development project officer (CDPO) of Kendrapara Sujata Tripathy said, “On receiving information, we rushed to the anganwadi centre to take stock of the situation. A team has been formed to investigate the matter and submit a report. After getting the report, we will take appropriate action against those found responsible for the incident.”
Tripathy informed that the district administration was bearing all the medical expenditures of the injured girl.