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Ludhiana girl loses vision in one eye: School put on notice by child rights commission
Taking suo moto cognizance of news reports highlighting a six-year-old girl losing vision in one eye owing to alleged delay in treatment and negligence by authorities, the Punjab State Commission for Protection of Child Rights (PSCPCR) on Friday issued a notice to Police DAV Public School, Civil Lines, asking them to provide an explanation by October 26
Taking suo moto cognizance of news reports highlighting a six-year-old girl losing vision in one eye owing to alleged delay in treatment and negligence by authorities, the Punjab State Commission for Protection of Child Rights (PSCPCR) on Friday issued a notice to Police DAV Public School, Civil Lines, asking them to provide an explanation by October 26.
Deputy director of PSCPCR Rajwinder Singh Gill, said, “We learnt about the incident through newspaper reports on how the girl student lost vision in an eye as she was not rushed to hospital immediately owing to negligence by the school authorities. We have reason to believe, on basis of news reports, that maybe the eye of the child could have been saved had she been rushed to the hospital in time. We have thus asked the school for an explanation on the incident. Further action will be taken after a detailed investigation.”
Shanaya Sood, a Class-1 student at the school, had suffered a critical eye injury after she was poked by a classmate with a sharp object. The injured girl’s parents alleged that instead of rushing her to a hospital, teachers sent their daughter home and misled them about the injury, which resulted in delay in treatment. The family members of the child have also lodged a complaint with the police.
Protest continues outside school
As no case has been registered, the girl’s parents alleged that police are siding with the school management, and held a protest outside the school on Friday for the second consecutive day. They had been joined by parents of some other students.
Shanaya’s father Sharad Sood, said, “Even two days after the incident, police have not registered a case against the school management for misleading us about the nature of the injury and not providing timely first aid. They also maintained that my daughter’s eye got hurt after being hit by a classmate’s hand, even as the doctor’s report suggests that she was poked by a sharp object like a pen or pencil.”
Leading the group of parents, Varun Mehta, head of Sri Hindu Takth, said, “In a meeting with senior police officials including ADCP (headquarters) Harkamal Kaur, ACP (headquarters) Ravinder Singh and ACP Ashok Kumar, we have been asked to submit all details in writing. We were assured that action will be taken against those found guilty.”
Principal of the school, Anu Verma, did not respond to any calls or messages.
