Madras High Court Issues Notice On Plea Seeking Probe Into Death Of LKG Student By Allegedly Falling Into School's Septic Tank

Justice GR Swaminathan issued notice on Friday on a plea filed by the child's father, K Palanivel.

In his plea, Palanivel submitted that January 3 this year, his sister in law had dropped his child Liya along with her own kids at the St Mary's Matriculation Higher Secondary School where the child was studying in LKG. However, at around 3 pm, he received a message informing that the school had declared a holiday and at 3:12 pm he received a call informing him that his daughter slipped and fell in the school and was taken to the hospital.

Palanivel further submitted that when his sister in law visited the school to enquire, the authorities gave evasive replies but later said that she had been taken to the Government Hospital. At the same time, the staff of the school indirectly informed that Liya had already passed away.

Palanivel submitted that there were suspicious circumstances surrounding his daughter's death and it was possible that the school had admitted her in the hospital under the guise of treatment merely to escape the clutches of law. Palanivel thus lodges a complaint and a case was registered for offences under Sections 194(1) of the BNSS.

He submitted that the exact time of occurrence was not informed to the parents nor was it promptly reported. He further added that though the school was located just 20 meters away from the police station, the police were not informed of the incident immediately. He claimed that though it was alleged that the child had fallen into the septic tank, there was no evidence of dust or dirt near the septic tank. He added that there were bloodstains on his daughter's dress, including the ribbons but it was not wet contradicting the claim of a fall into the septic tank. He also added that the school had even attempted to destroy the CCTV footage and was thus interfering with the investigation.

Palanivel added that there was a lack of proper investigation by the police who seemed to be supporting the school management. He added that the inspector had even remarked that he was helping the school management which would reflect a clear bias in investigation. Thus, noting that there were flaws in the investigation, he pleaded that it was necessary to transfer the investigation to either the CBCID or the CBI.

Case Title: K Palanivel v The State of Tamil Nadu

Case No: WP 1437 of 2025