In a shocking incident, a 14-year-old boy studying in Class IX at a private school near Edappadi in Salem district collapsed after being allegedly assaulted by a fellow student while returning from the school in a school van on Monday evening, February 10, and he died at a private hospital on Tuesday, February 11, without responding to the treatment.
The Salem district police have initiated a probe into the death of the student. It was said that the deceased had occupied the seat which had been used by his fellow student on Monday, which allegedly triggered a scuffle between them and ended in the tragedy, said police sources, according to the report by The New Indian Express.
According to the police, the deceased was identified as Kanthaguru (14), son of Alagarasan alias Selvam from Vellandivalasu near Edappadi in Salem district, and he was studying in a private matriculation school in Edappadi town.
The fellow student was a classmate of Kanthaguru, and he is also from Vellandivalasu. They used to go to school in a school van.
On Monday evening, around 4.50 pm, when they were returning from school in the van, it was said that the two had a heated argument over a seat.
As the two come to blows, the police sources said Kanthaguru collapsed into the moving van and fainted. Alarmed by the other students, the van crew rushed him to a nearby private hospital. The doctors who examined Kanthaguru referred him for advanced treatment, and he was shifted to a private hospital in Salem city in the evening.
Despite treatment at the Intensive Care Unit, he succumbed to death on Tuesday early morning, the police sources added. The body was sent for postmortem examination to ascertain the cause of death, and Edappadi Police have been investigating the case.
Meanwhile, the police on Tuesday initiated a probe with fellow students and the suspected student who was said to have assaulted the deceased.
The investigation was on with the driver, cleaner and the attendant of the school van, who were presented in the van during the incident. Also, the police held an inquiry at the school and gave protection to the premises, according to the report by The New Indian Express.
