Class 9 student found dead in military school’s washroom; vice-principal, teachers booked

Madikeri, Jun 25: A Class 9 student of a top military school in Karnataka's Kodagu district was found dead under mysterious circumstance, sparking massive outrage.

Officials said that 14-year-old NP Chingappa was found unconscious in the washroom of the Sainik School located at Kudige, near Kushalnagar. The washroom is connected to the laboratory. School authorities rushed him to a government hospital where he was declared brought dead.

The child's father Poovaiah, who’s a hockey coach in the same school, has claimed that his son was being harassed by few members of the staff. He had raised the issue with the Vice-Principal but his complaints were ignored.

In his complaint, Poovaiah accused vice-principal Seema, computer teacher Govindaraja, Kannada teacher GK Manjappa, administrative officer D Mathew and warden Sunil, of abusing his son. “Recently, my son Chingappa had told me that Govindaraja, Manjappa, D Mathew and Sunil were troubling him. I was shocked to hear about this harassment and I met vice-principal Seema and requested her to take action against these persons, which was ignored by her. Instead of protecting my son from the harassment, she abused me and ignored my appeal,” read Poovaiah’s complaint.

A case of murder under various sections of the Indian Penal Code has been registered. According to reports, a vice-principal, two teachers and three other staffers of the school, have been booked. The boy's family, along with locals, later staged a protest in front of the school.

MLCs Sunil Subramani, Veena Achaiah and SP Rajendra Prasad tried to pacify the mob. Sunil called up Mysuru-Kodagu MP Prathap Simha, who, in turn, took up the issue with defence minister Nirmala Sitharaman. The MLC conveyed the minister’s message that action would be taken against the persons concerned. Following this, the SP gave the green signal to register the murder case. The cause of death will be known when postmortem is conducted.

What school says

SP Rajendra Prasad said the school management told police that a poisonous solution used in the lab was found inside the washroom where Chingappa was found. He was taken to hospital in an ambulance, where he was declared brought dead.

In a statement issued to the media, the school said: “Cadet Chingappa NP, Roll No. 739, a student of Class 9 was declared brought dead to the Primary Health Centre, Kudige, at 8pm on June 23. Earlier in the day, the cadet was counselled by teachers for an act of indiscipline. Later in the evening, the cadet was found unconscious in the school washroom from where he was taken to Kudige hospital. Police investigation is in progress and the school is rendering all support to the department.”