Kalpetta: The father of the schoolgirl who died of snakebite in her classroom at Sulthan Bathery in Kerala's Wayanad district said on Thursday that his daughter's foot had spotted marks. The discolouration on the foot also pointed to a snakebite.
The class-5 student, S Shehala, daughter of the lawyer-couple Abdul Aziz and Shajna from Chitoor in Puthankunnu, was sitting in her class when the snake surfaced from a hole in the classroom and bit her and quickly disappeared.
Though the incident occurred at 3:10pm, no action was taken by the school authorities till 3:50pm. The father was informed of the incident only at 3:36pm. Even then, he was not alerted that she sustained an injury from snakebite. The teacher informed him that Shehala's foot was stuck in a hole.
The father who broke down before the media here, prayed that the unfortunate situation should never occur again.
No antivenin in four hospitals
Meanwhile, it has come to light that there was a gross violation in serving first-aid to the 10-year-old. The Health Department has begun investigating the Bathery taluk hospital, one of the first hospitals to deny Shehala antivenin. The anti-venom was unavailable at four hospitals.
The school headmaster said that by around 4.09pm, the girl was brought to the local hospital. By around 4:50pm, she started vomiting and then the doctors said she has to be taken to the Kozhikode Medical College hospital (about 2.30 hours travel time).
The child had died before reaching the hospital, and the symptoms were that of snakebite, said Dr Jackson Thomas who attended to the girl.
Teachers argued over taking Shehala to hospital
Classmates of S Shehala, the student who died after being bitten by a snake in the classroom at a government school in Sulthan Bathery, have come out with more revelations regarding the incident. They said that Lina, a teacher, had pleaded with Shijil, a colleague of hers who was later suspended from service, to rush Shehala to hospital but the latter had refused to heed to the request. Moreover, Shijil scolded Lina, said the students.
After this argument, Lina walked out of the school, the students told Manorama News. According to them, Shijil kept on saying that Shehala had suffered the injury after a nail grazed her leg and not from a snake bite.
No fitness certificate for school building
When a group of parents inspected the school building on Thursday, they found numerous holes and cavities which could provide a shelter for reptiles. Ironically, the school authorities said that they had not noticed these crevices.
Another anomaly that has now come to light is that the school authorities had failed to obtain a fitness certificate for the building at the beginning of the academic year.
Meanwhile, the Deputy Director of Education and the District Medical Officer have launched probes into Shehala's tragic death. District Collector Adeela Abdulla told Manorama News that their reports would be forwarded to the government and suitable action taken.
