Chargesheet in Neerja Modi case names senior mgmt, teaching staff

Jaipur: Nearly four months after nine-year-old Amaira Kumar fell to her death from the fourth floor of the Neerja Modi School in Jaipur's Mansarovar, police have prepared a chargesheet in the case that names members of its senior management and teaching staff.Amaira, a Class IV student at the school, died on Nov 1 last year, following which her family lodged an FIR alleging negligence on the part of school authorities.
Deputy commissioner of police (South) Rajarshi Raj Varma said the finalised chargesheet will soon be submitted in court. Highly placed sources in Jaipur police confirmed that it names three members of the school's management and teaching staff. They added that the accused have been charged under Section 106 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), which pertains to causing death by negligence, and Section 238, which relates to causing the disappearance of evidence of an offence or giving false information to screen an offender.Officials said these sections were invoked following an investigation that examined supervision protocols, safety measures in place and actions taken by school authorities subsequent to the Nov 1 incident.Police said the investigation included a detailed examination of the crime scene, analysis by the Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL) and scrutiny of CCTV footage, all of which pointed to lapses on the part of the school administration.As part of its investigation, police also reviewed a report prepared by the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE), which conducted its own inquiry into the matter.Following the inquiry, the CBSE had ordered the immediate withdrawal of the school's affiliation up to the senior secondary level in Dec last year. Citing "gross violations of child safety norms" and statutory requirements, the board said the school's response to the incident reflected a "complete failure of the counselling mechanism and grievance redressal system" mandated under its affiliation bylaws.