A 12-year-old schoolboy was found dead on Wednesday under a mattress at an ashram school in Wardha district. The ashram school is owned by BJP MLA Dadarao Keche who reportedly said that the boy fell on floor from the stack of mattresses leading to his death.
The victim has been identified as Shivam Samoj Uike who hailed from Doma in Chikhaldara, Amravati, Vidarbha region. He was a student at the Yadavraoji Keche Ashram School at Nara Village in Karanja-Ghadge Taluk. According to reports, while the school did not have CCTV Shivam was last seen at the ashram school at 9:30 am on Wednesday and was found dead at 8:30 pm that night after another student moved the mattress.
'The boy fell from a height of 13-14 feet'
Shivam's death triggered outrage among the locals who questioned the school's safety. BJP MLA Keche told News18 that the boy fell a height of 13-14 feet and hit his head.
"I run that school. The incident took place on August 31 when the boy fell to the floor from the stack of mattresses. These mattresses are used every day by students and are later stacked up in the same hall," Keche reportedly said. "The boy fell from a height of 13-14 feet and hit his head. Local news reports say there was no one in the hall. That is not the case since the other students who were there informed the office staff about the incident."
According to inspector Sunil Gade, the boy's body has been sent for post mortem and the report is expected by Friday evening. The police registered a case of accidental death and have launched an investigation.
