Ryan student murder: School to stay closed for four more days

Gurgaon DC interacts with parents and students, assures them on steps taken to plug security loopholes

As the Ryan international school Bhondsi reopened on Monday after ten tumultuous days, parents were apprehensive about sending the children to the school as they alleged that nothing has changed in terms of security.

Parents of Ryan students are still jittery in the wake of the murder of an eight-year-old student on campus. (Sanjeev Verma/HT PHOTO)

To alley their fear and apprehension, Gurgaon deputy commissioner Vinay Pratap Singh on Monday interacted with parents and students of the school and assured them on safety measures adopted since the murder of an eight-year-old student on campus.

He then announced that the school will be closed for four more days on the request of parents.

Counselling sessions were provided to students of the school at Bhondsi and the DC will request other schools to arrange similar sessions on their campuses.

“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,” Madan Kumar, a software engineer, said.

The victim’s father also voiced concern over the school reopening in such a short notice, as the city police has written to the state government recommending that the case be handed over to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).

“As a layman, I feel that since the case is yet to be formally handed over to the CBI, the administration should not have taken over and announced reopening of the school on Monday. I strongly feel someone else is also involved in the case and that person will get a chance to destroy crucial pieces of evidence that could throw new light in the case. The administration should have taken consent of the CBI, as already, the school management has destroyed and tampered with crucial evidence at scene of the crime,” said the father of the victim.

Taking note of the concerns voiced by the victim’s family, the DC has already passed instructions that the toilet where the 8-year-old was murdered and his classroom be cordoned off, so that crucial pieces of evidence aren’t destroyed.

“We will ensure the area is not used by anyone and pieces of evidence, if any, isn’t tampered with. Classes on the ground floor near the crime scene has been shifted to the first floor,” Singh said.

“We will soon put the safety audit of the school on our internal portal for parents. Parents will be told to post their feedback on the same,” Singh said.

DC has requested parents to have some patience and assured the school will be a safe place for the students. He said the administration will ensure that parents have no complaints after three months. “Parents should not take any decision in haste. We will work on the safety and security issues. Today was the first meeting and we have planned the next on September 23 in a bid to address the issues of parents,” Singh said.

Read I Gurgaon: Post takeover by state, Ryan, Bhondsi to open on Monday

Exact schedule of exams will be sent to the parents within this week, he said.

The school will be on the administration’s watch for three months, by which time it will look to plug all security loopholes and win back of the confidence of concerned parents.

If the district administration fails to meet the demands of parents within three months, the state will take a call on the future course. The DC also said that they will also make sure issue surrounding transportation is resolved.

“If parents still feel they want to shift their wards to another school, we will definitely provide the transfer certificates,” Singh said.

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

A school safety committee will be formed in each school and will be headed by the principal. The district administration will hold a meeting featuring representatives of all schools across the district and safety audits will be conducted in each of them, it was learnt.