7-year-old dead, father and school trade charges

THE FATHER of a seven-year-old girl — who died Tuesday, allegedly following a martial arts competition at her school, DPS World School Noida Extension — has accused school authorities of negligence and filed a police complaint against them.

Gazhal Yadav, a Class II student, was rushed to a private hospital from school, where she died on Tuesday afternoon.

While her father, Lal Chand Yadav, alleged she was injured during a Taekwondo competition at school on Tuesday, school authorities said Gazhal was taken to the hospital as she was complaining of headaches.

In an official statement, the school said: “Gazhal complained of a headache at 12.50 pm. Her mother was informed about it at 12.53 pm. She was immediately taken to Kailash Hospital in Greater Noida.”

The parents reached the hospital at 1.20 pm.

“Despite repeated attempts by doctors, she did not to respond to the treatment and passed away at 1.41pm. Her father, present at the hospital, decided to not have a post-mortem examination conducted. The allegation that the student met with an accident during Karate training — which was imparted with written consent from her parents and conducted by certified professionals — is far from reality. This has been verified with documentary evidence and camera recordings... The fact that there was no external injury on the body can also be confirmed from the hospital’s records,” said Jyoti Arora, the principal of the school, in a statement.

Lal Chand Yadav, however, said: “The teachers are lying to us. They said Gazhal died due to natural causes. How can a sevenyear-old die of natural causes, especially when she has no history of any serious illness?”

Some reports have stated that the girl died after sustaining head injuries during a martial arts competition in school.

Police have not registered an FIR yet and are waiting for her medical reports. “An inquiry will be conducted,” said Rakesh Kumar Yadav, CO, Greater Noida 3.