After A Decade, Odisha Man Gets Rs 10L Compensation For Son’s Death During School Hours

Cuttack: Nearly 10 years after a man sought justice for the death of his son, the family got its closure this week after the Orissa High Court awarded them Rs 10 lakh compensation.

Subhanarayan Mohanty, a Class II student of Kapileswar Prathamasahi Primary School in Puri district, had died after falling into a drain while relieving himself during school hours on September 28, 2011. His parents Sanjay Mohanty and Subhashree Mohanty filed a petition seeking Rs 15 lakh compensation on October 19, 2012. It was taken up for hearing on May 10, 2022.

A Single Judge Bench of Justice Arindam Sinha observed: “The students coming from  rural background were used to defecate in the open. In spite of a toilet being available on the school premises, the teacher allowed the students to go outside the school premises, to relieve themselves. As such, contributory negligence in preventing the death is the inference.”

The court further said that there should have been barricades and warning signs near the dugout pits, to prevent the accident. No steps were also taken by the headmistress to enforce discipline in using toilets on the premises.

Stating that the death of the child was entirely avoidable, he directed the government to pay Rs 10 lakh to the petitioners within four weeks of submission of a copy of the order.