KARIMNAGAR: In a shocking incident, Maram Srikar, a 14-year-old Class VIII student reportedly drowned while cleaning the well located in the premises of the St. Anthony’s High School at Mahatma Nagar in Thimmapur mandal of Karimnagar district on Sunday.
According to Srikar’s classmates, hostel warden Naveen ordered four students to clean garbage and algae from the well. While three of the students, who knew swimming emerged safely from the well, Srikar drowned as he couldn’t swim.
When the warden saw that Srikar was missing, he alerted the police, who rushed to the spot and pressed expert swimmers into service. Subsequently, disaster management and fire safety personnel joined the rescue effort.
A little while later, the body was retrieved from the well, and Srikar’s parents were informed. According to police, Srikar’s family hails from Telukunta village of Julapalli mandal but have settled in Hyderabad.
Lower Manair Dam police inspector K Shashidhar Reddy told TNIE: “We are waiting for the boy’s parents who are on their way from Hyderabad. Meanwhile, we have detained the warden and will take action based on the complaint.”
According to students, this was not the first time the warden had told the students to clean the well. “It’s a regular occurrence. Class X students are regularly told to go down in the well and clean the algae and garbage,” a student told TNIE.