Kothagudem: A petty quarrel between two students that turned violent led to the death of one of them on Friday at the Zilla Parishad High School at Chandrugonda in Bhadradri-Kothagudem district.
The quarrel was related to selection for a sports competition to celebrate the school’s anniversary. Class 10 students Kukkumudi Srinath and Tamballapalli Bhanu Prakash, who were competing for a spot, began fighting during a break and threw dusters at each other. A teacher who saw them intervened and ordered them to return to their class, but they didn’t.
At one stage, Srinath pushed Bhanu Prakash, who fell unconscious on a nearby table. Prakash was rushed to the primary health centre where doctors declared him dead.
Victim’s family gets Rs 1 lakh, job
Srinath was handed over to the Chandrugonda police by the teachers. Teachers informed Prakash’s parents, Mangaiah, a labourer, and Padma. Padma said, “My son was very sharp in studies. No one can understand my agony.”
Headmaster D.P.R.L. Kumari and physical director Srijana were suspended for not maintaining discipline in the school premises.
Soon after, Prakash’s family, relatives and representatives of political parties, staged a rasta roko on the Bhadrachaalm-Vijayawada road, demanding that the government pay Rs 25 lakh compensation to the family and suspend the teachers for their failure to prevent the fight.
District education officer T. Hayagreevachary and police officials rushed to the spot and discussed the matter with the agitators. The government promised to pay Rs 50,000 as compensation but the family refused and demanded the presence of the collector.
Finally, the family accepted the offer of Rs 1 lakh as compensation and an outsourcing job to one family member of the victim.
Asked about the incident, psychologist Purnima Nagaraj said, “It was the responsibility of the teacher to counsel them. Anger, frustration and cut-throat competition could be the causes. This is the price youngsters pay for being extra competitiven.”
No lessons learnt
July 2016: Mohammed Ibrahim, a Class 1 student, died due to injuries he sustained when a seven-year-old boy kicked him in his groin. at Promising Scholars School at IAS Colony, Toli Chowki,
2015: Amir Siddiqui, a Class 10 student, died of a brain injury after a fight with his classmate at St Joseph's Public School
