The family of the student, who suffered 50 percent burns, alleged that the school backtracked on its promise to meet the boy's medical expenses.
Meridian School in Banjara Hills. (meridianbanjara.com)
First-year intermediate student Mohammed Hassan left home at Shanti Nagar for his first day of class in the new academic year at Meridian School in Hyderabad’s Banjara Hills on 23 June.
The school, however, had something else in store for him — an unfenced high-voltage transformer without any warning signage.
The 17-year-old boy came into contact with the 1,400-volt transformer and suffered 50 percent burns. On Saturday, 1 July, he underwent multiple surgeries at a private hospital in Hyderabad.
The transformer was at a construction site in front of the school’s lunch hall. The school, in an apparent bid to wash its hands of the incident, now wants to know why Hassan went there.
The incident occurred during lunch break, and it came to light when Hassan’s friends searched for him.
Four days after the incident, the Banjara Hills police registered a case against the school based on a complaint by Hassan’s father Mohammed Latheef Khan.
“The school authorities had asked us to not lodge a complaint or speak to the media,” Khan told South First.
The school came under fire for allegedly backtracking on its initial commitment to cover Hassan’s medical expenses.
Khan said he has already paid out around ₹8.23 lakh for his son’s treatment. “The hospital authorities said the total treatment would cost around ₹17-18 lakh,” he said.
The incident has sparked widespread outrage among parents. They felt the school’s negligence has left the boy in pain.
Khan recalled the incident as told to him. “Hassan was passing through that area during lunch. There were iron rods near the live transformer. The area neither had any fencing nor any signboards,” he said.
The boy’s father said the school authorities blamed Hassan for the incident. “When my elder son met the principal, she asked what was the need for Hassan to go to that area,” he said, adding that there were no CCTV cameras in that area.
“The school principal (Nishi Rana) and other authorities were initially cooperative. They visited us at the hospital and offered to meet the medical expenses. But later they backed out and said it was not their responsibility. How can they say that? They are collecting huge amounts as fees and playing with the lives of the students,” Khan said.
The police have registered a case against the Meridian School management under IPC Section 337 (causing hurt to a person negligently and endangering the life).
“We have recorded the statement of the victim. We will serve a notice to the Meridian School management under 41A CrPC,” an officer attached to the Banjara Hills police station told South First.
He added that the police will file the chargesheet after receiving Hassan’s medical report.
South First contacted the school authorities, but they declined to comment.
“They have been ignoring me as well. They should have cooperated with us on humanitarian grounds. But they are showing an irresponsible attitude. What message will it send to other parents,” Khan asked.
In the past few months, several cases of negligence have come to light in Hyderabad.
On 7, May a three-year-old girl’s hand was crushed while enjoying a joyride at the City Center Mall in Banjara Hills.
Her family alleged that mall authorities did not even come forward to help them after the incident, and also deleted the CCTV footage.
The Banjara Hills police registered a case against Smash Zone under sections 337 (negligence endangering human life) and 201 (disappearance of evidence of the offence, or giving false information) of the IPC.
On 29 April, owing to the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC)’s negligence, a 10-year-old girl Mounika fell into an open drain in Secunderabad’s Kalasiguda.
Eyewitnesses and the Mahankali police said she was washed away while trying to save her brother. GHMC’s disaster response force later retrieved her body from the drain.
The GHMC suspended Assistant Executive Engineer M Thirumalaiah, who was in charge of the area, and Work Inspector BM Hari Krishna for negligence.
