Ryan International School to reopen next week, safety concerns to be addressed till then, say police

Thin crowd of students outside Ryan International School on Monday (Express Photo by Manoj Kumar)

Ryan International School in Gurugram re-opened on Monday, ten days after the gruesome killing of class two student Pradhyuman Thakur inside its washroom. Addressing a press meeting, Vinay Pratap Singh, Deputy Commissioner of Gurugram police, who was appointed as the new administrator of the school by Haryana government, said the school will be closed till Friday and the classes will resume next week from September 25. “Till then safety concerns will be addressed,” he added. He also squashed all reports of evidence being tampered because of reopening. “Since school is re-opened, entire area (crime scene) has been sanitized so that no evidence gets destroyed,” he said.

Father of the seven-year-old had raised his concerns over the reopening of school. “Pradhuman’s father on Sunday expressed the concern that the reopening of the school will erase all the evidences related to the case. This will also have direct consequences on the CBI’s investigation,” Thakur’s lawyer Susheel Tekriwala had told IANS. Pradhyuman was found murdered with his throat slit in the washroom of the school on September 8.

The Deputy Commissioner also added that the police had a meeting with the parents on Monday so that they could raise their concerns. A parent-teacher meeting is also scheduled on September 23, he added. He also said that the accounts of the school will be looked by him for a period of three months. “Following orders by Directorate of Education to take over school’s management, I will look after accounts for next 3 months,” he said. Read | There have been lapses… will now put onus on principals: Manish Sisodia on safety of school children. Click here

Vinay Pratap Singh, Deputy Commissioner of Gurugram police (Source: ANI)

Meanwhile, parents and guardians who come to drop their wards on Monday, told news agency ANI that the school should ensure that students are safe. “From now we’ll have fear in our minds till our kids would reach home. Ryan International School should look after their safety,” the parent of a student said. “Background check on staff should be done thoroughly; Educated people should be recruited in schools,” the parent of another student said.

The accused school bus conductor and two other officials from the school were produced in the special Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act court on Monday, ANI reported. The school management has been accused of serious security lapses. A two-member fact finding committee formed by CBSE, found that the drivers and conductors used the same toilets as the children. The committee also found that the building did not have a proper boundary wall, making it easier for outsiders to get access to the school. The CCTV cameras of the school were also found to be dysfunctional. Read | CBSE to issue showcause notice threatening disaffiliation to Ryan International School. Click here 

Pradyuman’s father, Varun Chandra Thakur, has moved the Supreme Court over his son’s murder, demanding that the school should remain closed until the CBI completes its probe into his son’s murder.

Meanwhile, Union minister M Gandhi, and HRD Minister P Javadekar, along with other officials from the CBSE, took part in a high level meeting on the safety and security of children in schools on Monday. “We’ve suggested certain things, HRD Ministry too has. There will be a meeting of 6 secretaries all who run various schools. Some of them already know suggestions made, like making female staff mandatory in vehicles or POCSO E box which is already in use,” Maneka Gandhi said, according to ANI.