A pall of gloom descends on deceased students’ village
Chikkanayakanahalli (DHNS): A pall of gloom descended on Timmanahalli, the native village of Akanksh Pallaki, one of the three students of Vidyavaridhi International School who died due to poisoning in the wee hours of Thursday.
According to the post-mortem report, traces of poison were found in the bodies. Akanksh Pallaki was pursuing his SSLC and was staying at the hostel on the school premises.
Heart-rending scenes were witnessed at the houses of Akanksh and Shreyas at Timmanahalli where the grief-stricken relatives were seen weeping and wailing aloud. Akanksh’s parents Kantharaju and Kalavathi were inconsolable. Yogesh and Radha swooned on seeing the body of their son Shreyas. Yogesh said that he had performed Mrutynjaya Homa for the well-bring of his child a few days back.
Shreyas’ grandfather Rangappa expressed his anguish saying that the school authorities did not inform the parents of the students till Thursday morning while the incident occurred on Wednesday night. “We will wage a legal battle against the negligence and apathy of the school management. They claim that it is an international school but the kitchen and accommodation of the boarding school, owned by former MLA K S Kirankumar, lack minimum facilities. The management is directly responsible for the death of the children,” he said.
Incidentally, both Akanksh and Shreyas are relatives of Law and Parliamentary Affairs Minister T B Jayachandra, who was born in the village.
Four students and a watchman had consumed rice and sambar for dinner and fell ill. While three students — Akanksh Pallakki, Shreyas, both native of Timmanahalli, and Shantkumar, a native of Srirampur in Chitradurga district – died due to food poisoning another student Sudarshan is recovering at District Hospital. Watchman Ramesh (40) is battling for life at the ICU of District Hospital.
KRISHNAMURTHY, BEO, CN’HALLI: Vidyavaridhi International School had not taken any permission from the Education department for running hostel on its premises. The hostel is devoid of basic facilities. A report in this regard has been submitted to the higher-ups.
3 boys die after meal in school; owner missing
Tumakuru (DHNS): Three students of a residential school in Huliyar died on Thursday, hours after they complained their food was bitter.
Shreyas (14), Akanksh Pallakki (15) and Shanthamurthy (15), students of Vidyavaridhi International Residential School, had dinner at 9 pm.
They refused the chapatis and started on rice and sambar. They soon said the sambar was bitter, and told fellow-students not to eat it. Heeding their advice, the others just ate rice mixed with buttermilk.
Some time later, the three boys began to vomit and have loose motions. By 1 am, their condition deteriorated, and the authorities called up Kiran Kumar, former BJP legislator who runs the school.
He arrived with Dr Siddaramanna, who examined the students. The doctor suggested they be hospitalised right away.
The three students were first taken to a private hospital, where it turned out had no oxygen. At 3 am, they were taken to the district hospital, where doctors said they were dead.
Parents of the students were distraught. They wanted to know why the school management had not called them when their children were experiencing such severe symptoms. A woman related to Akanksh fainted, and was taken to hospital in a police jeep.
Kumar said he suspected something had happened after dinner. “I ate the same meal, and nothing happened to me,” he claimed. Police later said he was absconding.
The residential school was unauthorised, according to an education official.
Foul play suspected
Law Minister T B Jayachandra said the boys could have been poisoned by someone. “Children don’t die so easily if the food is mixed with rat poison or even if a lizard falls into the dish,” he told reporters.
The post-mortem has confirmed the boys died of poisoning. Jayachandra, also minister in charge of the district, said two of the three boys who died, Shreyas and Akanksh, were related to him.
Owners absconding
Kavitha and Kiran Kumar, who own Vidyavaridhi International Residential School, went absconding on Thursday.
Ravi Kumar, principal of the school, had recently been sacked. “Rumours suggest he lost the job because he had been over-friendly with Kavitha. We are probing that angle,” a policeman said.
