Thanjavur, Jul 30: 10 years after a fire at a primary school in Kumbakonam in Tamil Nadu killed 94 children, the Thanjavur district principal sessions court on Wednesday convicted 10 of the 21 accused in the case.
The court pronounced Krishna English Medium School founder Pulavar Palanichamy, his wife and school correspondent Saraswati, headmistress Santhanalakshmi and others guilty under section 304 of the IPC (punishment for culpable homicide not amounting to murder).
The court acquitted 11 others accused in the case. They include three school teachers and eight government officials.
The fire broke out at the Krishna English Medium School on July 16, 2004. The school was functioning from a building with a thatched roof. The fire broke out at a kitchen on the premises, and the flames spread to other parts, killing 94 children. This was the worst accident at a school in Tamil Nadu.
At the time of the incident, over 200 children were in the thatched roof class room.
The trial of the case started on September 24, 2012. There were 488 witnesses, including 18 children.
The narrow building on Kasiraman Street, which housed three schools together - Sri Krishna Aided Private School, Saraswathi Nursery and Primary School and Sri Krishna Girls High School - with the students' strength exceeding 700 -- did not have necessary fire safety equipment.
21 people were named in the chargesheet filed by the prosecution.
Though there were 24 accused initially, the state government had withdrawn the charges against three of them.
The final arguments in the case concluded at the district and sessions court here on July 17.
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