<p>The 10-year wait for justice finally ended for parents of the 94 children who died in a fire on July 16, 2004 at a Kumbakonam school in Tamil Nadu. <br /><br /></p>.<p>A district principal sessions court in Thanjavur district on Wednesday sentenced the founder of Krishna Primary and Middle School, Pulavar Palaniswamy, to life imprisonment and nine others to rigorous imprisonment. <br /><br /> After slapping a fine amount of Rs 51.56 lakh on Palaniswamy, sessions court Judge Mohammed Ali also sentenced Palaniswamy’s wife and school correspondent P Saraswathi, headmistress Santhanalakshmi, a noon meal worker, a cook and four officials of the education department to five years’ rigorous imprisonment.<br /><br /> Charted engineer Jayachandran was awarded two years’ jail and a fine of Rs 50,000. All 10 were convicted under IPC Sections 304 (culpable homicide not amounting to murder), 338 (causing grievous hurt by act endangering life or personal safety of others) and some others. The court concluded the arguments on July 17. <br /><br />The judge also directed that a compensation of Rs 50,000 be given to the parents of each victim, Rs 25,000 to the critically injured and Rs 10,000 to those who suffered minor burns in the mishap.<br /><br />The court acquitted 11 of the 21 accused in the case, who include three school teachers and eight government officials. <br /><br />Initially, 24 were named as accused, but the Tamil Nadu government withdrew charges against three of them. Of the total 501 witnesses, 230 who included survivors and parents of the deceased children, were examined during the trial.<br /><br /> The tragic incident occurred when a fire that broke out in the makeshift noon meal kitchen spread to the thatched roof hut on the first floor, killing 94 children. At the time of the accident, over 200 children were in the thatched roof classroom. The school had a strength of around 700. <br /><br />The narrow building on Kasiraman Street did not have the necessary firefighting equipment. The judgment was received with disappointment by some parents who said they would appeal against the acquittal. Meanwhile, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalitha announced a slew of measures to boost education in the state.</p>
<p>The 10-year wait for justice finally ended for parents of the 94 children who died in a fire on July 16, 2004 at a Kumbakonam school in Tamil Nadu. <br /><br /></p>.<p>A district principal sessions court in Thanjavur district on Wednesday sentenced the founder of Krishna Primary and Middle School, Pulavar Palaniswamy, to life imprisonment and nine others to rigorous imprisonment. <br /><br /> After slapping a fine amount of Rs 51.56 lakh on Palaniswamy, sessions court Judge Mohammed Ali also sentenced Palaniswamy’s wife and school correspondent P Saraswathi, headmistress Santhanalakshmi, a noon meal worker, a cook and four officials of the education department to five years’ rigorous imprisonment.<br /><br /> Charted engineer Jayachandran was awarded two years’ jail and a fine of Rs 50,000. All 10 were convicted under IPC Sections 304 (culpable homicide not amounting to murder), 338 (causing grievous hurt by act endangering life or personal safety of others) and some others. The court concluded the arguments on July 17. <br /><br />The judge also directed that a compensation of Rs 50,000 be given to the parents of each victim, Rs 25,000 to the critically injured and Rs 10,000 to those who suffered minor burns in the mishap.<br /><br />The court acquitted 11 of the 21 accused in the case, who include three school teachers and eight government officials. <br /><br />Initially, 24 were named as accused, but the Tamil Nadu government withdrew charges against three of them. Of the total 501 witnesses, 230 who included survivors and parents of the deceased children, were examined during the trial.<br /><br /> The tragic incident occurred when a fire that broke out in the makeshift noon meal kitchen spread to the thatched roof hut on the first floor, killing 94 children. At the time of the accident, over 200 children were in the thatched roof classroom. The school had a strength of around 700. <br /><br />The narrow building on Kasiraman Street did not have the necessary firefighting equipment. The judgment was received with disappointment by some parents who said they would appeal against the acquittal. Meanwhile, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalitha announced a slew of measures to boost education in the state.</p>
