Shaan Prajapati, the Sherwood College student who died on November 14
The death of a 14-year-old student of Sherwood College, one of India's most well-known boarding schools, may draw Prime Minister Narendra Modi's attention when he begins his Nepal visit tomorrow. Shaan Prajapati's mother wants to meet PM Modi and ask for a fair probe into the death of her only child earlier this month.
"Listen to a mother's appeal. Give us justice, Prime Minister Saab," Neena Shrestha, a World Bank employee based in Nepal, pleaded through NDTV today.
Shaan, a Class 9 student of the school in Uttarakhand's lake resort Nainital, died of septicemia at a private hospital in Noida near Delhi on November 14. His mother has alleged in a police complaint that he died because of negligence by the school, which has many famous alumni.
Mrs Shrestha alleges that the school never informed her about her son's critical state and she found out only when he was in the ICU.
"I received a call on Thursday from a friend who said she had heard my son was very unwell and suggested that I should speak to the school. I called the housemaster and sent an email but there was no response. Then when they spoke to me, I was told my son is in the ICU and very critically ill," she told NDTV.
Shaan died a day later.
The school administration has denied her allegations; they say they took proper care of the boy never delayed calling his family.
Mrs Shrestha said she learnt from a hospital worker that Shaan had been unwell for two days and had gone to his house master, but he was asked to wait. Soon, his health worsened drastically. The school allegedly transferred the boy by road to Noida, without a teacher or doctor with him in the ambulance.
Shaan's mother, and uncle Ujjwal Thapa, a former Sherwood student, met Nepal Prime Minister Sushil Koirala, who has reportedly promised to take up their appeal with PM Modi on the sidelines of a SAARC summit in Kathmandu.
Over the past few days, thousands of people have come out in support of the family and joined their Facebook campaign "Justice for Shaan".