‘I was told my son had fainted… at the hospital, they showed me his body’: Father of Delhi boy who died at school

“I sent him to this school because I wanted him to have a better future,” he said, rubbing his bloodshot eyes.

The 12-year-old went to school as per his routine on Tuesday morning — a few hours later, he was declared dead at Fortis Hospital in Vasant Kunj. According to the school’s statement, he got into a scuffle with a classmate and collapsed afterward.

“I was told to come to Fortis around 10 am because my son had fainted in school… when I got there, they showed me his body wrapped in a white cloth instead,” said the boy’s father, who fainted after identifying his son. His brother-in-law was left to take the child’s mother home, who was inconsolable with grief.

“I went to drop my sister home and all I could see were the medals my nephew won in school. It was unbearable. He was such a beautiful child. I used to go to the park to play football with him every day… gareeb ke pass kya hota hai? Aulaad hi daulat hota hai (What do the poor have? Their child is the only wealth they have),” he said.

The 12-year-old went to school as per his routine on Tuesday morning — a few hours later, he was declared dead at Fortis Hospital in Vasant Kunj. (Express Photo by Abhinav Saha)

He allegedly spent over nine hours in the police station, pleading with the officers to file a complaint. “They keep telling us they can only register an FIR after the post-mortem report comes,” he said.

“The teachers and the principal did not talk to the child’s parents throughout the day. Police said the child died of natural causes but friends from school came and told us about the fight,” said another uncle of the child.

The father finally lodged a complaint with the police around 9 pm. In it, he alleged that no one from the school was present at the hospital when he and his wife arrived and detailed how the class teacher changed the version of events thrice — once saying his son fainted, then that he fell down some stairs and finally, that he had been in a scuffle with another student.

He also alleged police allegedly pressured him to conduct his son’s final rites as soon as possible. Police have accepted the complaint and are conducting an investigation according to all procedures, said officers.