Mangaluru, Aug 1: V S Ugrappa, chairperson of Expert Committee on Preventing Sexual Violence against Women and Children, who on Tuesday visited Alva’s Education Foundation in Moodbidri, where a Class 10 student was found dead last month, expressed shock over the violation of various laws by the largest institution of the coastal Karnataka.
Ugrappa said that his committee found several shortcomings at Alva's High School and its hostel. The committee observed that the body of Kavya was removed from the ceiling even before her parents and police officials reached the spot. Members also observed through witnesses that the body of Kavya did not have common signs of suicide. The committee members were told that the institute witnessed eight to 10 unnatural deaths in the past 10 years.
They found that though the school does not come under the residential institution category, a hostel was functioning on the 5th floor of its building and there is no lift for it. Further, they observed that the teaching staff were underpaid, cleanliness was not maintained in the hostel rooms and there were no sufficient number of wardens.
Buildings did not have proper setbacks, no adequate CCTV coverage, safety measures and there were no committees as per Vishaka Guidelines, said Ugrappa at a review meeting held at the deputy commissioner's office after visiting Alva's institute.
He said the negligence on the part of management is reason for unnatural deaths in the institute. "Many astonishing facts were brought to the notice of the committee when we visited the institute. As per medical jurisprudence, urine and motion will be passed automatically when a person commits suicide and the person would also bite the tongue. However, when we inquired, the witnesses said they observed no such signs. Hence, the question is why they brought down the body from the ceiling and why it was not shown to the parents," Ugrappa said, adding that only a thorough investigation will reveal the reason for Kavya's death.
Chairing a review meeting here after visiting Alva’s, Ugrappa asked the Dakshina Kannada district administration to act against violations committed by Alva’s. He also dropped a hint that he may ask the government to direct the foundation to pay exemplary compensation to the parents of Kavya Poojary who died under mysterious circumstances on campus on July 20.
Ugrappa said that though the foundation has been rendering good service by providing education to hundreds of students, it did not mean that it can flout rules and regulations. An institution having a turnover of over Rs 20 crore a year should be equally careful and responsible towards students, he said. None of the 20 conditions specified while granting permission to run the school were followed by the management, he noted.
Ugrappa said that he was surprised there was no effective monitoring in the institution where over 24,000 students are studying. While classrooms are on the ground floor, hostel rooms are on the upper floors of the same building. There are no CCTVs while the staff is being paid meagre salary, the MLC noted.
He said that during his visit, the staff that work as teachers and wardens, revealed that they are paid Rs. 7,500 a month, a flagrant violation of the Minimum Wages Act. As a whole, there appeared to be complete negligence on the part of the management while running the show, Mr. Ugrappa said and asked the Police Commissioner to examine whether the foundation can be booked for negligence too.
The administration has to send a report on the functioning, including lapses, of all the so-called residential schools (28 in all) within a week. “Let there be a beginning from Dakshina Kannada and the message should go across the State,” Mr. Urgappa said.
Deputy Commissioner K.G. Jagadeesha said that a team of officials from the departments concerned would be formed within four days and appropriate action would be taken. Police Commissioner T.R. Suresh, Superintendent of Police C.H. Sudheer Kumar Reddy, committee members and senior officials were present.
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