Two teachers of Sarvajana Higher Secondary School in Sulthan Bathery of Wayanad, who were accused of being unresponsive, after class five student Shehla Sherin was bitten by a snake, have filed anticipatory bail pleas in the High Court on Wednesday. The teachers are accused of not taking Shehla to hospital on time, despite knowing that she was bitten by a snake, leading to her death.
The incident that happened last Wednesday, had created a massive furore as Shehla’s classmates came out alleging that she died since the teachers delayed taking her to the hospital.
45-year-old Shajil CV, upper primary school teacher of the school, and Vice Principal of the school KK Mohanan (55 yrs), filed anticipatory bail pleas in the High Court on Wednesday. Shajil is the first accused in the case, while Mohanan is the third accused.
In the pleas, both the accused teachers have stated that it was not yet confirmed whether Shehla actually died due to snake bite. “It is only suspected snake bite and no post-mortem was done to prove that the death was caused due to snake bite,” both the teachers stated in their separate pleas.
It further states that that ‘facts, circumstances and the sequence of the events stated in the case registered suo motu by the police are totally incorrect.” And also that the teachers of the school, including the accused teachers, are ‘falsely implicated to satisfy the demands of the protestors’.
The plea further states that the move to blame the teachers was to aid the public protest created by the media and other educational institutions to tarnish the reputation of the school.
Meanwhile, Shehla’s father Abdul Azeez told TNM that there was evidence to show that the child had indeed died of snake bite. “The doctor at Good Shepherd Hospital at Vythiri has stated in writing that she had marks of a snake bite,” said Abdul Azeez. He also said that it was the family’s decision to not conduct a postmortem. “What was the point? We won’t get back our child whatever we do. So we decided not to do postmortem,” he said.
In total, four persons are accused in the case including Dr Jisha Merin, who treated the child at Taluk Hospital in Sulthan Bathery. It was alleged by the family that the doctor had not administered Anti- Snake Venom (ASV) to the child despite their request.
The accused are charged with section 304 A (Causing death by negligence) of Indian Penal Code and section 75 (Punishment for cruelty to child) of the Juvenile Justice Act.
Shehla Sherin’s death had come as a shock to the public as the incident happened within a classroom, also exposing the condition of schools in certain parts of the state.
Read: