PANAJI: Family members of the Class 11 student who drowned during a school excursion in Sattari alleged that the school management misled them about the incident and failed to take responsibility.
The family staged a protest outside Deep Vihar Higher Secondary School on Saturday, demanding justice and action over the alleged negligence. Police were deployed at the school premises to prevent any untoward incident.
The victim’s brother alleged that the school management initially informed their father that the student was missing. "The management called my father at 1.30 and told him that his son was missing. They told us the water was shallow and that he was fine. My father had a doubt that something was wrong, but the management refused to tell us the truth," he alleged.
The family further alleged that the student had drowned around 11.30 a.m. in the presence of teachers and other students, but the school continued to tell the family that he was missing until his body was recovered at 4 p.m.
They also questioned the school principal's alleged lack of knowledge about the location of the trek and demanded accountability from the management. "The principal said four teachers were responsible and apologised to us. But apologising will not bring him back. You have to be accountable," a family member said.
The school manager termed the incident unfortunate and said the matter would be investigated.
Meanwhile, Mormugao DySP Gurudas Kadam assured the family that an FIR had already been registered in connection with the alleged negligence.
