By IANS
New Delhi : A 15-year-old girl who slipped into coma here Jan 7 after being allegedly hit by a male teacher for refusing his private tuition died Thursday, with her father saying the beating caused her death.
But sources at the Maharaja Agrasen Hospital in Punjabi Bagh where Rinki Kaushik died claimed that the death was caused by respiratory disorder. The police have made no comment on the death and made no arrest.
According to her father Naresh Kaushik, the Class 10 student of the privately run Dinkar National Model School in east Delhi went into coma because her teacher, Dhirendra Kumar Dinkar, assaulted her with a stick Nov 10.
Father Kaushik explained the long gap between the alleged beating and coma by saying that his daughter had developed a nerve disorder after a motorcycle accident. The assault aggravated the problem and caused the coma.
Her body has been sent to a government hospital for post-mortem.
The Delhi government has announced Rs.100,000 as compensation to the girl’s family. The authorities have promised a separate investigation.
Naresh said he complained to the police about the assault Nov 15 – five days after the alleged beating.
“First the police did not listen to us,” he said Thursday. “Later they asked us to write a complaint on a plain paper, but no case was registered. When I tried to reason with the principal, who is also the father of the accused, he refused to take up the matter calling it a trivial issue.”
After slipping into coma, the girl was admitted to the intensive care unit of the hospital for blood clotting in the brain. The clots were later removed but her condition remained critical.
Naresh said the Ashok Nagar police station registered a case Feb 12 under Indian Penal Code sections 325 (voluntarily causing hurt), 342 (wrongful confinement) and 506 (criminal intimidation).
He alleged that the family was being threatened to withdraw the case.
“The police do not help the middle class. They still haven’t arrested the man. He is roaming free,” an inconsolable Naresh said.
“We want justice for our daughter. The accused should be arrested immediately for murder.”
Deputy Commissioner of Police (East Delhi) Ajay Chaudhry refused to comment. “I will talk to media later in the day.”
The Delhi government swung into action only after the media highlighted the plight of the victim and her parents.
Delhi Education Minister Arvinder Singh Lovely visited the girl at the hospital last month and moved against the school administration for resorting to corporal punishment. The education department de-recognised the school March 5.