MCD yet to conclude probe into schoolgirl’s death

The Municipal Corporation of Delhi on Tuesday said it is yet to reach a conclusion in its probe into the death of a girl allegedly due to corporal punishment at an MCD school as its Vigilance Department looking into the matter has sought more time to complete the inquiry. Dismissing a media report that the MCD has given a clean chit to Manju,the teacher accused of inflicting corporal punishment on 11-year-old Shano Khan,MCD spokesperson Deep Mathur said “the probe report is yet to come”. “The MCD is yet to give a clean chit to the teacher. The Vigilance Department,which is inquiring into the incident,was to submit its report on Monday but now has sought more time to complete the inquiry,” he said.

Shano,a Class II student of the MCD primary school in Bawana,died on April 17 after she was allegedly made to stand in the sun with bricks on her shoulders that led to her slipping into coma. The Vigilance Department was yet to record the statements of other students of the school,the MCD spokesperson said. “It (Department) is trying to contact the students of the school so as to ascertain the factual position of the incident. But the school has remained closed due to the prevailing situation. It has,therefore,not been possible to record the statements of students,” he said.

The Department is also “awaiting the post-mortem report of the deceased child,” Mathur said. He said the Vigilance Department would submit the report as soon as the required formalities are completed. No time-frame has been set,he said. The MCD had ordered a departmental inquiry by the Director (Primary Education) after the incident. Following the death of the girl,it had asked its Vigilance Department to conduct an inquiry. The principal of the school and the accused teacher remain under suspension.