14-Year-Old Girl Dies In Gujarat; Family Blames Cold Weather, School

A 14-year-old girl studying in Class 8 in Gujarat's Rajkot city died after suddenly collapsing in her school, with her family members claiming that she died due to cold weather conditions and added that the school authorities should have allowed students to use warm clothes of their choice instead of just uniform sweaters.

The incident took place on Tuesday at A V Jasani Vidya Mandir, prompting the district education authorities to direct that the schools be opened an hour later than their normal start time in the morning in view of the prevailing cold weather conditions and also allow flexibility in wearing of warm clothes by students.

Doctors said victim Riya Sagar's death appeared to be due to a cardiac arrest, while her family maintained that she did not suffer from any health complications.

District Education Officer B S Kaila said the exact cause of her death will be ascertained after the port-mortem.

"Around 7.25 am, Riya fell down while talking to her friends in the lobby of the school. There is a hospital located within 100 metres of distance where she was rushed. But she was declared dead there and doctors said prima facie it was due to a cardiac arrest. The detailed post-mortem report will ascertain the actual cause of the death," the official said.

"We have instructed schools to start after 8 am and allow students to wear shawl and muffler, jackets, etc. in view of the issues raised by her (Riya's) mother. This will be in force till January 21 and it may be extended till January 27," he said.

Talking to reporters, Riya's mother said the school should have allowed students to wear warm clothes rather than sticking to uniform sweaters, which is not sufficient to beat the cold.

"My daughter did not suffer from any disease. She died because of freezing blood in her heart due to cold," her mother Janaki Sagar said.

She appealed to schools to begin their classes a bit late in the morning in view of the prevailing cold weather conditions so that the health of students is not compromised.

"I would like to appeal to the school to delay the time of opening school as much as possible...Don't open schools early in the morning. If you compel students to wear only a uniform sweater then they will not be able to beat the cold. Allow them to wear thicker jackets. This is my request...," she added.

Meanwhile, Congress spokesperson Manish Doshi urged the government to take steps to prevent such incidents and delay the school opening time by an hour so that students do not have to suffer due to cold.

"We have written to the state education minister. There are many schools where there is a shortage of classrooms, and students are forced to study in the open. In such a situation, the government should act immediately and change the timing for the benefit of students," he said.

Gujarat has witnessed a drop in temperature with cold wave conditions prevailing in parts of Saurashtra and Kutch regions in the last two days.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)