CHENNAI: A day after a Class 7 student was killed in a wall collapse inside a government school in Kondapuram village near Tiruttani in Tiruvallur, the police have booked the Tiruvallur Chief Educational Officer (CEO) Karpagam, District Educational Officer (DEO) Amutha, and school headmaster Thyagarajan on negligence charges.
The district administration also handed over an appointment order for the post of an Office Assistant (OA) to the victim S Mohith's father, Sarathkumar. Relatives of the deceased boy, who continued their protest on Wednesday refusing to accept the boy's body after postmortem examination, were eventually pacified after the district administration handed over the appointment order to Sarathkumar.
Condoling the death, Chief Minister MK Stalin had announced a solatium of Rs 3 lakh from the Chief Minister's Public Relief Fund.
Mohith of Kondapuram village, a Class 7 student at the school, was having lunch near the sidewall inside the school premises when the wall collapsed. The boy was caught under the debris and died on the spot.
Speaking to DT Next, a senior education department official from Tiruvallur had said that they conducted inspections on Tuesday and a report would be submitted to the Directorate of School Education.
"We had already informed all school managements to check the condition of school buildings, roofs, and walls ahead of the commencement of the northeast monsoon. We will hold a thorough inspection in the coming days to prevent such untoward incidents in the future," a School Education Department official said.
Meanwhile, addressing the media in Tiruchy, School Education Minister Anbil Mahesh Poyyamozhi said that the collapsed wall was constructed in 2014-15 under NABARD funds and that those responsible for the construction must be held accountable.