VILLUPURAM: Three persons, including the correspondent, principal and a teacher of a private school in Vikravandi, were arrested on Saturday in connection with the death of a four-year-old lower kindergarten girl who fell to her death in the school’s sewage tank.
The arrested include correspondent A Emalda (65), principal A Dominic Mary (50), and teacher A Angel (33). The trio has been booked under Section 105 of the BNS for culpable homicide not amounting to murder.
The arrest follows a complaint filed by the deceased Liya Lakshmi’s father, Palanivel, at Vikravandi police station, seeking action against those responsible.
After a medical examination, the trio was produced before Vikravandi Judicial Magistrate K Sathiya Narayanan. During the proceedings, the correspondent and the principal raised health issues and were admitted to a government hospital. The two along with the teacher have been remanded in judicial custody until January 10.
Meanwhile, the girl’s body was handed over to her parents on Saturday morning after postmortem. Police and hospital officials declined to disclose the initial findings of the postmortem. Several political leaders, including Forest Minister K Ponmudy, Villupuram MP D Ravi Kumar and Vikravandi MLA Anniyur A Siva, and Collector C Palani paid respects.
Ponmudy handed over a cheque for Rs 3 lakh to the girl’s mother, Sivasankari. However, emotions ran high as Sivasankari initially refused to accept the cheque, stating, “Return my child. We don’t need money.”
In another development, a three-member team from district child welfare committee inspected the school, including the sewage tank and safety measures in place.