VILLUPURAM: A four-year-old lower kindergarten student of a private matriculation school near Vikravandi police station died after accidentally falling into a septic tank on the premises on Friday. Accusing the school management of negligence, the parents of the girl who died and locals staged a road blockade on Chennai-Villupuram highway.
The victim P Liya Lakshmi was the daughter of Sivasankari and Palanivel, the latter works as an e-service contract employee at the Tindivanam Revenue Office. According to the police, the girl left her classroom around 1.50 pm to use the restroom. Upon returning, while walking over the corroded steel lid of the septic tank, the lid gave away, causing her to fall inside the tank and suffocate to death.
As she failed to return to her classroom, the teacher, searching for her in the restroom area, noticed the damaged lid of the tank and found the girl inside.
The CCTV camera footage from the school premises showed the school authorities retrieving her from the tank. The girl was rushed to Government Villupuram Medical College and Hospital in Mundiyambakkam, where the doctors declared her dead on arrival.
The incident sparked outrage among the parents and locals, who staged the road blockade. Several officials, including District Chief Education Officer (CEO) Arivazhagan and Vikravandi MLA Anniyur Siva, inspected the school premises. Arivazhagan assured that strict action would be taken against the school administration and any officials found negligent during inspections. He said that inspections would be conducted at private schools.
Chief Minister M K Stalin, in a statement on Friday, condoled the death of the four-year-old and announced a solatium of Rs 3 lakh to the bereaved parents from the Chief Minister’s Public Relief Fund.