Four class XI girls found dead in Arakkonam well
VELLORE: A large-scale fire and rescue operation and a police investigation was launched at the Ramapuram village near Arakkonam on Friday evening after the bodies of four school girls were found in a 80-ft-deep well there. The preliminary word was that the children took their own lives, allegedly due to castigation.
Sources identified the girls as Deepa (16), Shankari (16), Manisha (16) and Revathi (16). All four were class 11 students the Government Girls Higher Secondary School in Panapaakam. While the bodies of three of them were fished out by the fire and rescue team, the body of Manisha was fished out by the National Disaster Management team.
Manisha’s mother reportedly stated that her daughter had complained of being scolded at school. According to others, the girls were missing from the school after lunch.
While one of the girls went missing with her school bag, the other three had left their bags in the school.
During a search hunt, people found Manisha’s bag and four cycles near a well on a farm belonging to one Venkatesan Nair. The police department was informed and the 80-foot-deep well was searched, following which the bodies were found. The retrieved bodies were taken to the Government Vellore Hospital.
Superintendent of Police P Pagalavan, Arakkonam Deputy Superintendent of Police Kuthalingam, Ranipet Deputy Superintendent of Police Vijaya Kumar, and Ranipet Revenue Divisional Officer (RDO) Abdul Munneer were present at the spot.
Sources further said that the four girls were good friends and went to the school and returned home together. The well, which is located around three kilometers away from the school, does not fall on the route that the girls took daily.
Superintendent of Police Pagalavan has reportedly formed four special teams to expediate the probe.