7-year-old sent home due to teachers’ strike, drowns in tank in Pollachi

According to police, Maheswari (33), a construction labourer from R Ponnapuram near Pollachi had dropped her daughter Amutha, at the Panchayat Union Middle School in the same neighbourhood and left to work in Pollachi. Maheshwari was living alone with her daughter after her husband Ganesan left them four months ago due to some family dispute, to Dindigul.

While talking to media, Maheswari said, “I left for work as usual after sending my daughter to school at 8.30 am on Monday. My daughter was sent home within an hour as there were no teachers. I spoke to my daughter over the phone at 10 am. She told me that she was playing in the neighbour’s house.”

When Maheshwari returned home at 5 pm, Amutha was found missing. After searching along with other villagers, she found her daughter drowned to death in a tank.

“If my daughter was not sent to home from school, she would have been alive now. Even if I had known about the closure of the school in advance, I would have taken my daughter along with me to work site in Pollachi,” she added.

On receiving information, the Pollachi Taluk police rushed to the spot and sent the body of the deceased girl for a post mortem at Pollachi Government Hospital. After preliminary inquiries, police believe that the girl had slipped into the tank while playing. A case has been registered and further inquiries are on.