Ten days after the gruesome murder of seven-year-old Pradyuman Thakur inside its toilet, the Ryan International School reopened on Monday with only 250 students reaching the school along with their parents. However, after a request from parents, it was decided that school should remain closed for four more days, and with Saturday and Sunday as off days, the institution will now reopen on September 25.
Speaking to reporters, Deputy Commissioner of Gurugram Vinay Pratap Singh, who was appointed as new administrator of the school by the Haryana Government, said,
“The school was opened after the entire crime scene has been sanitised so that none of the evidence gets tampered with. Also now everything is normal. The parents were also satisfied that the school will run under the administration for next three months.”
The Deputy Commissioner also said police had a meeting with the parents so that they could raise their concerns. The parents have expressed concerns about their children’s studies and fear for their safety, he added.
“Many lapses have been found within the campus. These lapses have been identified and recognised. We will be correcting them. On September 23, a meeting will be held with the parents and discuss the future course of action,” Singh said.
The DC further said the safety audit report would be put up on time and an internal portal of the school will be used to communicate with parents.
The administration issued an order on Monday barring the media from entering the school campus, saying that the presence of media persons on the campus can create problems for students. Many policemen and other security personnel were deployed inside and outside of the school premises in a civil dress so that no student panicked.
Meanwhile, Pradyuman’s father Varun Thakur has raised objections to the school being reopened as Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) was yet to take over the probe of the case. “The reopening of the school will erase all the evidence related to the case. This will also have direct consequences on the CBI’s investigation,” Thakur’s lawyer Susheel Tekriwala has reportedly said.
Pradhyuman, a student of Class II, was found murdered with his throat slit in the washroom of the school on September 8.
In another development, Ashok Kumar, the prime accused in the case, and two school officials Francis Thomas and Jayesh Thomas were again sent to judicial custody till September 29. The bail plea of both the school officials was rejected by the court on September 18.
Special public prosecutor Anurag Hooda opposed the bail application of the Ryan officials and submitted to the court that the accused officials were responsible for the lapses and negligence that led to the murder of the seven-year old boy. He also cited the report by the DC and the guidelines on school safety prescribed by the Gurugram Police.
Earlier on Friday, the Haryana Government had announced that it would be taking over the school management for three months. The Government had also ordered a CBI enquiry into the murder.