The mystery surrounding the drowning of Devyansh, a Class I student at Ryan International School’s Vasant Kunj branch, is getting deeper as conflicting versions of the events leading up to the child’s death are emerging.
The six-year-old student was allegedly found dead in a water tank on the posh South Delhi school’s premises on January 30.
While some people allege that the water tank was covered and the cover was removed by Devyansh, others claim that the tank was uncovered, leading to the child’s death. They claim that the cover was later put by a guard posted there after he fished the child’s body out of the water tank.
Meanwhile, in a bid to throw some light on the case, a team of forensic experts will visit the school on Tuesday to inspect the spot and discern how the child reached the tank unnoticed by the guards and school authorities.
Devyansh’s parents had on Saturday said that they suspected foul play. Devyansh’s mother had said that the water tank was always covered with a heavy lid weighing nearly 20 kg and Devyansh was incapable of pushing it aside. The parents claimed that someone murdered their son and then made it look like the boy pushed aside the lid and fell into the tank by accident.
However, on Monday Devyansh’s father Ram Het Meena, who is yet to overcome the tragic loss of his son, said, “How can the tank be covered when my child died of drowning. It is the school that is manipulating the facts.”
A distraught Meena demanded a CBI probe so that the people behind his son’s death could be brought to book.
Significantly, sources told The Pioneer that the tank was uncovered at the time of the incident and was covered by the school authorities later.
Sources also said that one swimming coach and a class 11 student rescued the child. This raises questions about the presence of senior students in the school on a holiday as the school has claimed that only Class I students were called for a poetry recitation competition.
According to a police officer involved in the investigations, the school authorities need to answer a few questions. “The school administration claimed that the school was open on Saturday for a poem recitation competition. Then why did they not send the children home by 12 pm. We have come to know that contrary to the claims of the school authorities, classes were being held. What was the reason for holding classes if the children from Class I had been called for the recitation competition,” the police official said.
“Second, how could Devyansh escape the teacher’s notice twice on the same dayIJ The school authorities have stated that the first time the child ran out of class he came back in 15-20 minutes but when he left the class for the second time round he did not return. Third, the water tank is at a distance from Devyansh’s class and there are four classes between them. It raises the question why nobody noticed or chase the boy after he ran out the second time,” the officer added.
The school’s principal Sandhya Sabu had stated that the four gates leading to the water tank were guarded by four separate guards but one of the gate was found unlocked and the guard missing on the fateful day.
“The school authorities have also stated that there is a pump operator who is in-charge of all the pump rooms and he was on duty on the day of incident. Then why did he fail to notice the child while he was going towards the tankIJ” the officer asked.
Questions are also being raised about the Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (CPR) provided to the child after he was allegedly rescued from the tank. Sabu had stated that the child was given CPR by someone from the school, following which the child vomited.
However, a medical expert from lady Hardinge Hospital said: “Only trained people can give CPR and they must also have a Basic life Support certificate or must have gone through a workshop or training provided by authorized medical institutes to the school staff.”
“So it raises the question whether the school has the trained medical staff to provide first-aid in an emergency situation like this,” the officer said.
The principal reportedly told the police that Devyansh was suffering from Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder and used to run out of class quite regularly.
Trashing the claims, his father said, “If my child had ADHD they should have told us about it. My child was studying there for the past three years but they never mentioned it once.”
“Prima facie it appears to be a case of negligence leading to the death of the child. The guilty would be brought to justice soon,” the police officer said.