Molestation led to stampede at Delhi school, allege girls

Molestation of a few girls by some boys triggered the stampede at a government school in north-eastern Delhi, where five girls died on Thursday, some parents alleged on Friday.
Initial reports said rumours about electric shocks had caused the stampede, which left 32 students injured. Two of the injured girls are battling for life at the Guru Teg Bahadur Hospital in the capital.

Some of the girls spoke out on Friday, after which their parents approached the police.
Meena Kumar, a student of std VII, told DNA, “Boys are not supposed to come to the first floor, but on Thursday teachers sent them upstairs without supervision. They pushed us around, pretending that they were falling down.”

Meena said the boys kept saying that the “dark-skinned among us should go downstairs, while the fairer ones should stay back”. Veer Singh, father of a girl studying in std IX, said they had complained to the authorities but no action was taken. “On Thursday, some boys molested the girls, which led to the stampede,” he alleged.

Dr JP Kapoor, senior medical superintendent of Guru Teg Bahadur Hospital, too, said initial tests didn’t suggest any of the girls had received electric shocks. The final reports will be out by Monday, he said.

“Most of the injured students had head and abdomen injuries, which were caused by the stampede. Many of the children were crushed and got suffocated. Two girls are in a serious condition,” he said.

SS Yadav, chief of Delhi’s northeast district police, said: “We are investigating the possibility (of molestation). If evidence suggests so, we will do the needful.”