A Class X student died while attempting to escape through a washroom ventilator in the hostel of a private madrasa in Jahangirpur within the Gangarampur police limits in South Dinajpur district late on Monday.
Police suspect that Albaksh Hossain, 14, was electrocuted by the high-voltage wire located outside the bathroom. He was from Ramchandrapur village in Tapan block of the district.
A source said that Albaksh went to the washroom after dinner on Monday. He briefly spoke to a friend there. Following this, Albaksh was missing for a while. The others initiated a search and found him unconscious outside the hostel near the washroom, with injury marks on his nose and mouth. His hair was entangled in an 11,000-volt electric wire.
A team from Gangarampur police station recovered the body on Tuesday and sent it to Balurghat district hospital for a post-mortem.
The boy’s family alleged negligence by the hostel authorities. They claimed that the incident occurred around midnight, but they were informed around 2am. By the time they arrived, the teenager was already dead and had not been taken to the hospital for treatment.
“My son returned to the hostel on Sunday as the madrasa was closed due to elections. He was initially reluctant to stay at the hostel. There must be something wrong, or else, why would he try to escape through the ventilator? We want the police to find out the truth,” said Akhtar Hossain, Albaksh’s father.
It was also reported that the hostel’s CCTV cameras were not functioning.
Ratan Roy, the teacher-in-charge of the hostel, admitted that the student was not taken to the hospital immediately.
“It was a mistake. But he was not abused in the hostel, and we had no inkling that he would attempt to escape through the washroom,”
said Roy.
Shubhatosh Sarkar, the subdivisional police officer of Gangarampur, said: “A case has been registered. We are waiting for the post-mortem reports to know the exact cause of his death.”