For the past few days, Kerala has been listening to the hopeful voices of a few students in Wayanad. The students of Sarvajana Higher Secondary School have been actively lashing out against a few of their teachers who showed apathy to take their classmate Shehla Sherin, who was bitten by a snake, to the hospital on time, which ultimately cost her life. But now, one of the students has come out stating that she is receiving threats from a few men in the locality for speaking against the school.
Vismaya, a class six student of the school and Shehla’s classmate, has said that she was threatened by a group of men who told her that she was trying to defame the school. “When I was coming to school along with my father to give a statement to officials about the incidents that happened, a group of men came and told me that my father used to come home from work at night and alone,” Vismaya told Asianet News. To this, she replied that whatever happens to her and her family, they will stand firm with Shehla’s family.
According to Vismaya’s father Rajesh, it was a group of men who introduced themselves as former students of the school, who threatened them.
She also said that the men told her that the students were saying things that have been taught by somebody else to defame the school. “I told them that we are not saying things since somebody told us to do so, we were speaking genuinely because of our friend’s death,” she said.
Vismaya also stated that though she is feeling afraid because of the threats, she will not hold back from speaking the truth. “It is our school, we don’t want it to be destroyed, we want to study here. We also think that if something similar happens again, they might do the same by not taking us to the hospital,” said Vismaya.
Vismaya’s father also told media that it was a group of recognisable men in the region who told them not to defame the school. “On Friday, Shehla’s aunt had called me asking if Vismaya can be brought to school to give a statement about the incident to the Child Rights Commission that was visiting the school. Even before I knew, my child had talked openly to the media about what had happened and I am proud of that. So when we came to school on Friday, these men said that if our move was to damage the school's reputation, then we will face consequences,” said Rajesh.
The group also allegedly threatened Rajesh saying that people in the region will ostracise them if they defamed the school. “They said that it was the media who is teaching the kids to say things in order to get breaking news. But media persons will go in a day or two and if we try to defame the school which has a legacy, then we will be ostracised by the public,” Rajesh told Mathrubhumi News.