KADAPA: A Five-year-old LKG student was crushed to death when a wooden almirah fell on her at a school in Proddatur in Kadapa district on Tuesday. Blaming the school management for the mishap, her family and student organisations went on the warpath.
Bhargavi was the only daughter of Narasimhulu and Lakshmi Prasanna, residents of Mulavaripalle in Proddatur mandal. She was studying in LKG at the Sri Vani Vidyalayam school in Adarsh Colony of Proddatur, while her elder brother Vishnu is studying in Class 1 in the same school. As per her daily schedule, Bhargavi left for the school in the school bus on Tuesday morning.
"Bhargavi was all smiles when she boarded the school bus. But before we started off to pick her up in the evening, we learnt about her untimely death. What wrong did she do, that she was killed at such a young age in such a mishap?" lamented Narasimhulu.
It is learnt that the girl was playing with friends during the lunch hour when she accidentally bumped into the wooden almirah in one of the rooms.
The massive, 30-year-old almirah fell upon the girl with a thud and causing bleeding injuries. The school staff who witnessed the incident rushed her to a nearby hospital but she was declared brought dead.
The girl's parents learnt about the incident and rushed to the hospital.
Alleging that Bhargavi died due to the negligence of the school management, the family members along with student organisations staged a protest outside the school. They alleged that the school management did not bother about removing the old wooden alimrah which is a dilapidated condition and instead, placed it in a place where children were playing.
Learning of the incident, district education officer B Pratap Reddy rushed to the spot. The school was sealed and the police took into custody school officials Ramesh Reddy and Rahmatullah for further investigation. The DEO promised to make alternative arrangements for students of the school, which was shut down.