A Class VI student of the Social Welfare Boys' Residential School in Bhuvanagiri in Telangana, Ch Prashanth, 12, died after battling for life at a private hospital in Hyderabad where he was admitted for food poisoning a few days ago, stated a report by The New Indian Express.
He was among the 15 students of the school who had fallen ill after eating contaminated food at their hostel on April 11. While Prashanth and another student, Krishna, were shifted to a private hospital in Uppal for better treatment as their condition had turned critical, others were discharged the same day from a local hospital at Bhuvanagiri.
After Prashant's health further worsened, he was shifted to Rainbow Hospital where he was put on a ventilator. He breathed his last on Tuesday night, April 16.
While the boy's father Mahesh is a borewell rig driver, his mother Parijatha is a daily-wage worker at Jablakpally of Bhoodan Pochampally mandal in Yadadri-Bhuvanagiri district.
Parijatha, who was disconsolate on seeing her son's body, regretted her inability to visit his son for Ugadi as per his wish.
Mahesh alleged that his son died because of delay in taking him to hospital immediately after he suffered from food poisoning.
"My son was first taken to the Bhuvanagiri Area Hospital and then to Uppal. Later, he was shifted to Rainbow Hospital. But no official either from school or the district education office came to see the boy at the hospital. A teacher came one day and left. Had district collector Hanumantu Jendage responded in time and given orders to the hospital to ensure better treatment, my son would have survived," said Mahesh and added he paid Rs 1.5 lakh for the boy's treatment at the Uppal hospital.
A post-mortem was conducted on Prashanth's body at Gandhi Hospital on Wednesday, April 17.
The relatives of the boy and some of the villagers of Jablakpally got into heated argument with revenue officials for their alleged failure to visit the hospital to inquire about the condition of Prashanth while he was undergoing treatment. They also demanded that the post-mortem on the body be conducted at the Bhuvanagiri hospital.
Meanwhile, the district administration offered a house, outsourcing job to one of the parents of the boy and Rs 20,000 towards funeral expenses. It also promised to send a proposal to the state government for payment of compensation to the boy's parents.
The hostel authorities said in a press release that they would take steps to prevent recurrence of such incidents. They promised to provide nutritious food to the students in the future.
However, Mahesh rejected the offer and, instead, demanded action against the hostel authorities responsible for the food poisoning.
