Sailana (Madhya Pradesh): A Class XII student of Eklavya Model Residential School died under suspicious circumstances in the hostel on Tuesday after she was removed from an examination following the alleged recovery of a cheating slip.
The incident sparked uproar on the Eklavya campus. School principal Narendra Gangwal was removed by the officials with immediate effect.
The deceased was identified as Varsha, daughter of Tikaram Solanki, a resident of Mewar Panth in Dewas district. A Class XII arts student, she lived on the Eklavya campus. Her brother Akash Solanki lived in the boys' hostel.
Slip found during examination
The examination was scheduled from 10 am to 1.30 pm. During a routine check, duty teacher Preeti Lamba allegedly found a cheating slip in Varsha's pocket.
The teacher took her answer sheet, removed her from the examination and sent her to the hostel around 11.30 am.
Lamba said Varsha appeared worried but did not mention any problem.
Roommates find student
After the examination ended around 1.30 pm, roommates Lakshita and Pratibha returned to the hostel and found Varsha in a suspicious state. They immediately informed the warden.
Sailana police station in-charge Pinky Akash reached the spot with police personnel. SDOP Neelam Baghel and tehsildar Manish Jain also arrived and inquired into the incident.
Principal Gangwal said the duty teacher had informed him about the slip. Warden Rekha Pargi said she had gone to the principal's office and was not upstairs when the incident occurred.
Tehsildar reprimands staff
Questions were raised over student supervision and hostel arrangements. Jain expressed displeasure over the conduct of the teacher and warden and reprimanded them.
FSL officer Atul Mittal, fingerprint expert Prakash Rathi and SDM Sunil Jaiswal inspected the scene.
After the family arrived around 5.30 pm, preparations were made to send the body to Ratlam Medical College for post-mortem examination.
Meanwhile, Tribal hostel students staged a 'dharna' and prevented the body from being taken away. Despite repeated persuasion by officials, they did not relent.
Till the time of filing this report, the body remained in an ambulance outside the campus.
Police are investigating whether the death was linked to the examination incident or another reason. The exact cause will be known after the investigation and the post-mortem report.
