HC directs police to report on human faeces in school water tank case
The incident came to light on October 5, when the school was reopened after the quarterly holidays. He stated that a criminal case was registered only on October 8. Nearly 150 students are studying in the said school and that the safety of such a large number of children cannot be compromised by any act of negligence or administrative inaction.
The petitioner stated that he came across news reports about human faeces found dumped inside a water tank used by the students of Manur panchayat union primary school situated near Palani in Dindigul district. The incident is deeply disturbing and raises serious concerns regarding the safety, health and well-being of the children studying in govt schools. After noticing that no water was flowing from the tap, some school staff members inspected the tank and, upon opening its lid, found human faeces inside the tank. An initial attempt was allegedly made to conceal the incident by immediately cleaning the tank, instead of promptly reporting the matter to the competent authorities and ensuring the preservation of material evidence. The incident came to the attention of higher officials only after the parents of the students confronted the school staff regarding the occurrence. The delay in setting the criminal law in motion, despite the gravity of the incident, indicates interference from influential people. Hence, the petitioner moved court seeking a direction to constitute an independent team to investigate the case. During the course of the hearing, the state submitted that police found that two boys had playfully thrown human faeces in the tank.
A division bench of Justice P Velmurugan and Justice R Poornima was hearing a public interest litigation filed by T Balakrishnan of Madurai. Madurai : Madras high court on Friday directed the Dindigul district police to file a report on the status of the investigation in the case where human faeces was found in a school water tank in Dindigul district.