A Class 7 CBSE student in Faridabad died on Thursday morning, allegedly due to her school administration's negligence a day earlier when she had informed her teacher about her illness.
According to Times of India report, the girl's parents accused the school administration of negligence, saying that they never told her parents that the girl, Aradhya Khandelwal, was feeling unwell on Wednesday, and even forced her to finish her maths test before leaving for home.
The girl's friend's mother said that the 11-year-old had been unwell all morning. She reportedly vomited multiple times in the school, and even on the bus while going back home.
"My daughter was Aradhya's best friend. She told me that when the girl informed her class teacher that she was feeling nauseous, she was asked to go to the washroom. Aradhya was then made to sit through the test despite feeling uneasy. All through, she was sweating," the mother told the publication. "She couldn't keep her eyes open," the friend's mother added quoting her daughter.
"That is (informing her parents) the first thing they should have done. The class teacher was aware of her condition. They sent her to the sick room, but chose to ignore the symptoms for hours," she said.
Aradhya's father, Abhilash Khandelwal, claimed she just asked for lemon water when she returned home.
"An hour later - around 3.30 pm - she rushed to the washroom and vomited again. That is when we realised that she wasn't well. But we thought it was the first time that day that she had puked. We had no idea about what had happened in the school," said her father.
"We asked her about her health when we found that her uniform was a bit dirty. She said she felt like going to the washroom repeatedly, but did not reveal anything about going to the infirmary," the girl's father said.
She went to bed after telling her parents she felt better later in the evening. Aradhya started to vomit again on Thursday morning around 6 am.
Her parents drove her to a neighbouring hospital, where an ECG was performed. On not finding her pulse, doctors declared her dead.
The parents said that if the school had told them about their daughter's illness the previous morning, she may have received immediate treatment.
"We had no idea that our child was feeling this ill in class on Wednesday. She was fine when she left for school in the morning," Khandelwal said, sobbing over his daghter's death.
The principal said that the school adminitration would comply with all legal formalities and cooperate with any inquiry being conducted. Aradhya's parents met with the principal and the class teacher and were assured of an internal inquiry.
"We will do whatever is deemed necessary. The incident is unfortunate, but it occurred long after she had left the school," the principal said.
The girl's parents refused for an autopsy being done. They have yet to file a police report as of late Sunday evening. However, the family listed the accusations against the school administration on Twitter.
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