Three students die of snake bite in Maharashtra’s residential school

Three girls died and another student remained critical after six students were bitten by a venomous snake at a government-run Ashram school hostel in Gadchiroli district. Maharashtra cancelled the school’s licence and ordered an audit of aided Ashram schools

Kumram Bheem Asifabad: Three girls died, while another student remained critical after six students were bitten by a snake in a hostel of a government-run Ashram school at Japtalai village in Dhanora Taluq of tribal-dominated Gadchiroli district of Maharashtra early on Monday.

Tribal officials said that Deepika Lakda (12), a Class VII student, Sushmita Mandal (14), Class VIII and Anu Koreti (8), studying in Class II at the residential school, were bitten by a venomous snake while they were asleep on the floor of the hostel at around 2 am on Monday. They were immediately shifted to hospitals in Dhanora and Gadchiroli district centre. They died while undergoing treatment. The warden of the facility was not present at the time of the incident.

---

Deepika Madavi, Kavita Kiranga and Samruddhi, belonging to the school, were also bitten by the snake. Deepika and Kavita were admitted to a hospital in Dhanora, while Samruddhi was airlifted to a hospital in Nagpur. Her medical condition is said to be serious. About 80 students were at the hostel when the incident took place. Officials of the hostel and the government drew sharp criticism following the deaths of three students.

Meanwhile, Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis cancelled the licence of the school in the wake of the tragic incident on Tuesday. The government ordered a third-party audit of more than 500 aided Ashram residential schools across the State. Opposition parties criticised the government for failing to ensure the safety of students at government-run residential schools.