The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) on Tuesday, May 2, sought the Action Taken Report (ATR) from the district magistrate and collector, Sundargarh on the death of a minor student who succumbed to injuries during treatment after hot 'dal' at the hostel kitchen fell on him in March this year.
The order of the NHRC came in response to the petition filed by a Supreme Court lawyer and activist Radhakanta Tripathy on April 26. The commission has given four weeks time to the collector to submit the ATR.
What is the actual incident?
On March 6, piping hot 'dal' spilled on a 14-year-old Gelet Hanhaga while he was helping the cook in the hostel kitchen. Though he was rushed to the government health centre at Koida and shifted to Rourkela Government Hospital (RGH) a day later, he succumbed to death on March 12.
Alleging human rights violation, activist Radhakanta Tripathy said the cook at the hostel had asked the student to get the dal vessel down from the stove when hot 'dal' spilled on him. He also quoted the locals who alleged the students were often engaged in cooking work at the hostel and demanded an investigation into the matter.
Further, the complainant said engaging students in other dangerous works than academics amounted to a serious violation of human rights. In the complaint, Tripathy requested a fair investigation into the case, action against the wrong-doer, compensation for the bereaved family and direction to the state for corrective measures to check such incidents in future.
Course of action
The incident occurred at the hostel of the residential school under the ST & SC Development (SSD) Department at Dengula of the remote Koida block in Sundargarh district. Immediately after the incident, three cooks of the SSD School were removed by the Sundargarh collector, while the headmistress of the school and welfare extension officer of Koida block was placed under suspension, as stated in a report by The New Indian Express.
