Pradyuman’s Class Has Only 4 Students As School Reopens After His Murder

Mangalore Today News Network

Gurgaon, Sep 18, 2018:  Over a week after 7-year-old Pradyuman Thakur was found murdered in a toilet of the Ryan International School in Gurgaon, only four of his classmates came to school. Two of them were withdrawn immediately by their parents.

Pradyuman, a student of Class 2, was found with his throat slit after he went to the toilet near his classroom on September 8, just moments after his father dropped him off.

As the school opened for the first time today since the incident, attendance was thin and parents were torn between concern over their children’s studies and fear for their safety.
 
"I am too scared to use the toilets now and will ensure that we walk around in groups at the school and not alone," Sambhavi, a 12-year-old student, said.

A conductor of one of the school buses, 42-year-old Ashok, was arrested based on security footage that shows he was present when the child entered the toilet. The CCTV footage shows Pradyuman crawling out of the bathroom and collapsing next to a wall.

The parent of one of Pradyuman’s classmates said he is "traumatized about going back to the same classroom and using that toilet".

Sashi, the mother of a Class 1 student, said, "I am not sending my son to school. I don’t trust the school anymore."

Pradyuman’s parents alleged that the classes were restarting without proper security measures by the school since their son’s murder.

The school authorities have assured parents that additional safety measures are being put in place after the takeover by the Haryana government. In a message to parents, the school had said, "We have received permission from local authorities to reopen from Monday hence the school reopens for all classes as normal."

One parent, Neerja Tiwari, said she would send her older child first and assess security before sending her younger one to the school.

Courtesy: NDTV