Jaipur: A nine-year-old student of Class V died under suspicious circumstances at a private school in Sriganganagar district Monday evening, with his family alleging that he was electrocuted while drinking from a faulty water cooler on school premises.The incident occurred around 7pm at the private school under Sadulshahar police station limits. The deceased, a resident of Ward No 23 in Sadulshahar, had gone to the school grounds to play after classes, police said.According to a complaint lodged by the boy’s father, he collapsed after being electrocuted while drinking from a water cooler after finishing play. He was rushed to the govt hospital in Sadulshahar, where doctors declared him dead.The boy’s mother and elder brother alleged that the water cooler had been malfunctioning for several days, and although students had complained repeatedly to a teacher about electric current passing through the unit, no action was taken.Police said these allegations are being verified as part of the investigation.The death triggered protests outside the govt hospital, with the boy’s family staging a sit-in demanding that the post-mortem be conducted by a medical board. Authorities later agreed to the demand.Based on the father’s complaint, Sadulshahar police have registered a case against the school’s operator and management committee under provisions relating to causing death by negligence.SHO Malkit Singh said police have begun collecting evidence from the school and are examining the water cooler in question. “So far, we have confirmed that children used to visit the school premises to play after school hours and that a water cooler was installed at the location. The exact cause of death will only be established after the post-mortem report comes in,” he said.In a similar incident in June last year, a 35-year-old resident doctor at RNT Medical College in Udaipur died of electrocution after coming into contact with a water cooler.
