Live wires powering CCTVs in school kill 8-year-old boy

TNN | Updated: Jun 5, 2019, 6:47 IST

Picture used for representational purpose only

BENGALURU: Live wires powering CCTV cameras and drawn along iron grills in a Konanakunte school claimed the life of an eight-year-old boy on June 1, cops confirmed.
M Akshay, a class III student of St. Francis Convent at Jambusavari Dinne in Konanakunte near JP Nagar, was playing on the first floor of the school building when the tragedy occurred. The school management had installed CCTVs on the first floor and drawn electric wires along the iron grills.
“Students had a 20-minute break and Akshay was playing holding on to the iron grills in the first floor. The wires connecting CCTVs were all over the iron grill. Some of them were skinned due to the previous night’s rain. Akshay was holding one such grill when he was electrocuted,” cops said.

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The boy’s death brings to the fore an alarming but often disregarded issue — lack of periodic safety checks in schools. All parents expect a safe learning environment for their wards and no school can shirk the responsibility and blame natural calamities. The school has failed to follow the manual on children’s security that mandates identification of hazards and time-to-time maintenance. With monsoon around the corner, a bigger risk looms large on the horizon. A stitch in time saves nine; the authorities must act before another tragedy strikes — upgrade electrical systems, educate children about threats and staff on emergency care.

Based on a complaint from Akshay’s father M Muniraju against the school management, police arrested school principal Mary Alice. She was booked under Indian Penal Code (IPC) section 304 for causing death due to negligence.
Bereaved family members, however, said they’re not blaming the management for their son’s death and it was a clear case of accident. “We’ve filed a police complaint and let law take its own course. Whatever we do, my son will not come back,” Muniraju said.

Akshay was the third of Muniraju couple’s four sons. The elder sons are studying in the same school while the youngest one, who is five years old, is yet to join school. Muniraju is a milk vendor in Jambusavari Dinne. The school had reopened on May 27.
“The school management is very kind towards parents from economically weaker sections. For primary school, the annual fee is Rs 10,000. Tell me who will educate children in Bengaluru at such low fee?” Muniraju asked, adding: “After death-related rituals, I’ll meet school authorities and tell them that it was an accident.”