This Article is From Feb 10, 2010

Pune: Neglect caused death of 8-yr-old?

Pune: In a shocking incident, a school boy from Pune died four hours after he went to school. His parents say the school did not inform them in time or else they could have saved their son.

The Mahatre's cannot believe their 8 year old son, Akshay is dead.

A third standard student at Pune's Camp Education Society school, Akshay, left home early Tuesday morning. Soon after he reached school he complained of feeling ill.

As Akshay's health deteriorated, he continued to stayed in class for four hours.

Finally his parents were called in. However, by the time his father rushed Akshay to a nearby hospital, he was dead.

Sunil Mahatre, Akshay's Father said, "If the school had informed us a little earlier we could have rushed him to the hospital."

School teachers claim they did what they could for Akshay, who was already ill when he came to school in the morning, a claim his parents deny.

Mrs Dixit, Akshay's class teacher said, "I did my job and told him to drink some water and rest. We called his parents and told them when he became worse."

Ironically,  the school shares a wall with a hospital where Akshay could well have been treated.

"If we had taken him to a doctor maybe the parents would have got annoyed with what we did. So we informed them to come and take the child.", said, E N Varade, Principal, Camp Education Society School.

While Akshay's parents blame the school, they have so far not filed a police complaint. With his family refusing to allow a post mortem before his funeral, what caused Akshay's sudden death will remain a mystery.

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