The Central Bureau of Secondary Education told the Supreme Court on Thursday that negligence on the part of Ryan International School’s administration led to the murder of a Class 2 student, PTI reported.
The Class 2 student was found with his throat slit inside a toilet on the Gurugram campus on September 8. A bus conductor was arrested later that day for attacking him. Later, there were allegations against the Ryan Group school of violating security norms.
The education board on Thursday said it had set up a committee to investigate the incident. The committee found there were “severe irregularities and security lapses” on the campus. “Yes, this incident has happened due to the negligence of the school authority as no provision of toilets and washrooms for drivers and conductors and cleaners... could be found separately in the school premises,” Anurag Tripathi, secretary of CBSE, said in an affidavit. “This indicates they were using the facilities meant for the students and the staff.”
The CBSE also claimed that it was not the school that reported the death to the police, but the child’s parents.
Sushil Tekriwal, the counsel for the child’s father, said the CBSE’s affidavit substantiated their allegations of security lapses. The murder had raised questions about how safe children are at school.
Case update
The Punjab and Haryana High Court on September 28 had stayed the arrest of the owners of Ryan International School. The next hearing is on October 7.
Three men, including the bus conductor, who were arrested for their involvement in the boy’s death were sent to the custody of the Central Bureau of Investigation on September 23.
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