Death of 12-year-old Dalit boy in Bhuvanagiri, snatching of body from parents causes stir, Rs 50 lakh compensation sought

HYDERABAD: The death of 12-year-old Dalit boy Prashanth at the SC, ST Social Welfare Gurukul School in Bhuvanagiri and the way his body was snatched away from his grieving parents in the name of postmortem caused a stir in social and political circles.

Prashanth a native of Jiblikpalli of Pochampalli mandal of Yadadri Bhuvanagiri district. He was studying in the sixth standard in the Gurukul school where he allegedly died of food poisoning on April 12. He was admitted to a private hospital in Bhuvanagiri and then was shifted to another in Hyderabad on April 13. However, he died on April 16.

Sources in Bhuvanagiri said that three more students from the same school were admitted to Gandhi Hospital, two in Osmania, and seven more were admitted to Government Hospital Bhuvanagiri. The district authorities said to have suspended the school principal Sri Ramula Srinivas for negligence of duty and handed over the charge to Vice Principal Ramu.

BRS demands compensation of Rs 50 lakh

Former Minister T Harish Rao condemned the food poisoning incident in which 24 students fell ill and one boy Prashanth died. He held the Government responsible for the incident.

“The quality of the SC, ST Gurukulams which earned a very good name during K Chandrashekar Rao’s Government has diminished. Revanth Reddy talks about people’s Government but the BRS feels that it is more of a vengeful Government,” Harish Rao said in a statement. In addition to stern action of the school staff responsible for the incident, he demanded Rs 50 lakh as compensation for the parents of Prashanth.

RS Praveen calls its murder by the Government

Former IPS officer and BRS leader RS Praveen Kumar too condemned the incident and said that his repeated requests to the Congress Government to set right the Gurukula system in the State hit a deaf ear. “What happened the round the clock Panacea Command Centre set up by the KCR Government? That could have saved the boy from death,” he pointed out.

My son was snatched from us

Family members of Prashanth were found shellshocked at the Gandhi Hospital mortuary on Wednesday as the police allegedly snatched the body from them while they were planning to take the body to their native village in a van.

Prashanth’s mother said that she was forcibly dragged out of the vehicle by the police and her son’s body was taken to the Gandhi Hospital mortuary,

Bakka Judson, a social activist and former Congress worker stood for help with the family at the mortuary. “There are three Dalit Ministers in Revanth Reddy’s cabinet, Bhatti Vikramarka, Damodar Rajnarsimha, and Seeethakka. None of them came to our rescue here,” he said. He said that this was the third death of a Dalit student in the 100-daylong Congress rule in the State.