Dindigul: Police claim students accidentally dropped faeces into school water tank

PALANI: Dindigul police on Friday claimed that students had accidentally dropped human faeces into a water tank at the Panchayat Union Primary School in Manur near Palani during the quarterly examination vacation.

A senior police officer said the preliminary investigation revealed that a group of students aged 11 and 12 had been playing kabaddi on the school premises on October 3 when one of them defecated on the campus.

Angered by his behaviour, another student allegedly picked up the faeces with his hands and placed it on the lid of the water tank, threatening to complain to the headmaster. Some of the faeces accidentally fell into the tank as its lid was partially open, the officer claimed.

The students, who studied at a high school a kilometre away, often visited the Panchayat Union Primary School to play kabaddi during holidays, police said.

The two students subsequently cleaned the tank, but some faeces remained inside, claimed the police. A noon-meal worker discovered it on October 5 when she went to clean the tank after the school reopened following the quarterly examination vacation.

The police said they had video evidence supporting their version. According to the officer, the two boys were sitting outside the school and discussing the incident when a youth passing by became suspicious and questioned them. One of the boys allegedly confessed to what had happened on the school premises, while the youth recorded the conversation on his mobile phone without their knowledge.

During the investigation in the village, the youth informed the police about the incident and shared the video footage. “We called the two students and advised them,” the officer said.

Although the headmaster learnt about the incident on October 5, he neither informed senior Education Department officials nor alerted the villagers, instead taking steps to clean the tank.

The incident came to public attention on October 7 after news of it spread among villagers, who staged a protest condemning the headmaster for failing to inform them.

Following the incident, the police and Education Department officials launched separate inquiries.

Meanwhile, Education Department officials sought an explanation from the headmaster for not informing senior officials immediately after discovering faeces in the water tank.

The police and Education Department officials assured the villagers that infrastructure facilities at the school would be improved and CCTV cameras installed.