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According to Divya’s uncle, Sanjay Prasad, the incident occurred on September 15 when the school principal allegedly assaulted the student for violating the dress code.
A 19-year-old Class 12 student from Jharkhand’s Garhwa district, who slipped into a coma after being allegedly beaten by her school principal for wearing slippers instead of shoes, died Tuesday morning.
The family of the student, Divya Gupta, has accused the school administration of physical and mental torture and demanded that the principal be booked for murder. The principal has been suspended pending inquiry, officials said.
According to Divya’s uncle, Sanjay Prasad, the incident occurred on September 15 when the school principal allegedly assaulted the student for violating the dress code. “She was beaten with hands and sticks all over her body. We thought she would recover, but her condition kept worsening,” Prasad told The Indian Express.
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After the incident, the family took Divya to a private hospital in Daltonganj and then to several doctors before she was referred to RIMS, Ranchi. “She went into a coma around September 26 and never regained consciousness,” Prasad said.
Divya died Tuesday after nearly a month of treatment. “She was mentally and physically tortured. The pain in her head and spine was unbearable. She kept crying in pain for days before slipping into a coma,” Prasad said.
Her postmortem was conducted at Garhwa Sadar Hospital Wednesday. The family said Divya had been healthy with no prior medical issues. “She never had to take any medicine in her life,” Prasad told The Indian Express.
The principal has been suspended, but the family is demanding her dismissal and arrest. “This is not just negligence, it’s murder. She should be terminated and given the harshest punishment,” Prasad said.
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Divya’s parents, Anjay Prasad and Anjita Gupta, remain in shock. “Her mother keeps fainting repeatedly,” he said, adding that the principal had allegedly beaten another student the same day, fracturing their finger.
Garhwa District Education Officer Quisa Raza said an inquiry has been ordered. “I have immediately removed her from the post of principal and transferred her to another school. A four-member inquiry committee has been constituted. If the charges are found true, strict departmental action will be taken,” Raza told The Indian Express.
Shubham Tigga hails from Chhattisgarh and studied journalism at the Asian College of Journalism. He previously reported in Chhattisgarh on Indigenous issues and is deeply interested in covering socio-political, human rights, and environmental issues in mainland and NE India. Presently based in Pune, he reports on civil aviation, other transport sectors, urban mobility, the gig economy, commercial matters, and workers' unions. You can reach out to him on LinkedIn ... Read More
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