Ryan student murder: School reopens, many parents withdraw kids over safety

The murder of the class 2 student found with his throat slit in a school toilet brought the safety of children in schools across the country into sharp focus.

The Haryana government on Monday took administrative control of the Ryan International School as it reopened 10 days after an eight-year-old student was found dead with his throat slit inside the institute.

Several parents have demanded a transfer certificate from the school administration. (Sanjeev Verma/HT Photo)

The murder of the class two student in the prestigious school brought the safety of school children into sharp focus and sparked protests in many parts of the country.

A conductor of a school bus has been arrested over the murder and the state government has handed over the probe into the incident to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).

With attendance very low – only three to four students of each class were present – no classes were held on Monday even as several parents said they were contemplating withdrawing their children from the school.

“I want to withdraw my son’s admission from this school. He has refused to attend classes here and is very scared to visit the school premises,” said Madan Kumar, a software engineer.

“Shockingly, when I approached the teachers today, they were not even interested to counsel parents and asked to look for another school in the city,” he added.

Police personnel were also deployed in civvies.

School officials were seen escorting students from the school buses to campus to avoid media and students were given directions not to interact with journalists.

Deputy commissioner Vinay Pratap Singh took charge as administrator of the school for three months.

Parents also interacted with the deputy commissioner who assured them of better safety and security.

Parents said several school buses reached late and on many routes buses did not ply.

“I waited till 7.30 am but when the bus did not reach, I came to drop my son. The school authorities are still taking it casually and have not even informed parents about the bus schedule,” said Sanjay Singh, a resident of Sector 49.

Parents said they were annoyed as the school did not send them a message regarding unavilability of buses. Some blamed the school staff of being too casual to security issues.

“When I asked the management what security provisions have they added in these ten days, they asked me to be patient and said it will take another 15 days to get things going,” said Swati Singh, a worried parent.