A 12-year-old student died under suspicious circumstances at a private school in south-west Delhi on Tuesday morning. While the police attribute the mysterious death to medical reasons, the child’s family points to foul play in the incident.

According to the police on Tuesday, the boy has been identified as Prince, a resident of Kudumpur Pahari in Vasant Vihar, who was a student of class six. Police suspect that his death may have been caused by a seizure. However, the family has alleged foul play, claiming that Prince was beaten up by his classmate.

Deputy Commissioner of Police (Southwest) Surendra Choudhary said, “Information was received from Fortis hospital in Vasant Kunj at 10.15 am, stating that Prince, who is a student of Chinmaya Vidyalaya Vasant Vihar, had been brought dead.”

“Upon enquiring and inspection of the body it was revealed that there was no visible injury on body, but some foam like substance was oosing out from his mouth,” the police said in a statement.

Doctors verbally suggested that the boy might have had a convulsion-related condition, but inquest proceedings are underway. “School students and teachers are being interrogated and necessary legal action will be taken accordingly,” it said.

Prince's father, Sagar, who works as a sewer line worker in Vasant Vihar Society, said that his son had no medical history and was completely fit and fine when he dropped him in the school.

"My son was completely healthy and had no history of fits. He would even play football and was a good player, participating in inter-school tournaments and winning several medals," Sagar said, adding that "something is fishy in the school's and police's theory."

He claimed that some students told them that Prince had a fight with a classmate during which he collapsed and school teachers then took him to hospital. He was initially taken to Holy Angels Hospital and later referred to Fortis Hospital where doctors declared him brought dead.

Sagar further said that he dropped his son in the school before going for work. "I got a call at 9.45 am from school that my son got hurt and when I reached the hospital, he was already dead," he said.

Prince was the younger among Sagar's two sons. His elder brother Priyanshu is in class eight in another private school. Prince's uncle Vineet raised questions on the absence of his class teachers and other staff during the incident. There was no comment from the school regarding the incident.