Forgotten, locked in school car for hours, 6-year-old boy dies in Madhya Pradesh

A six-year-old boy died of respiratory complications on Sunday, six days after he was forgotten and left locked in a school car for hours in Madhya Pradesh’s Hoshangabad district, his father has said.

A student of Sai International School in Dolariya town, Naitik Gour, died in a Bhopal hospital where he was brought on March 20 in an unconscious state, a day after the horrific incident.

“The school authorities killed my son... They left my son in the car for four hours and their negligence killed him,” Surendra Gour, who is a farmer, told media.

School director Nitin Gour, in whose car Naitik was locked, admitted that the boy was left in the vehicle. “An attendant usually brought the boy to the classroom but that day she forgot to bring him out of the car,” said Gour, who himself drove the boy and some teachers on March 19 as the school van was not available.

Nitin locked the vehicle and left for Hoshangabad, leaving Naitik in the car, Surendra Gour said. “Naitik was unconscious when he was brought out of the vehicle,” he said.

He was rushed to a hospital in Hoshangabad but had to be shifted to the Rainbow Hospital in Bhopal after his condition deteriorated.

“The boy was in a state of shock with breathing problem and in a critical condition. We put him on a respirator but could not save him,” a doctor, who didn’t wish to be identified, said.

Surendra Gour said he was under pressure from his extended family as the director was a relative. “But how can I forgive him? I will fight, and if the police don’t do anything I will seek a CBI inquiry,” he said.

Bhopal’s TT Nagar police station head constable Ramakant Pandey said they had a zero FIR and forwarded the case to the concerned police station.

A zero FIR can be filed anywhere by the victim, family or friends and the complaint can later be transferred to the appropriate police station for a probe.