A few hours after a 19-year-old student, Logeswari, from Coimbatore died during a fire drill conducted in her college, her family has demanded that action be taken against Kalaimagal College of Arts and Science College immediately.
Alleging that the college has still not spoken to Logeswari’s family with regard to the incident, her brother said, “It was one of her friends who informed me that Logeswari had died. The college did not take any steps to inform us about the incident. The college should take responsibility for my sister’s death. I request the authorities to take strict action against the college and whoever else is responsible for this.”
Logeswari’s body was kept in the Coimbatore Government Medical College and Hospital for an autopsy.
Reiterating that the college must assume responsibility for Logeswari’s death, her father said:
Incidents like this should not happen to anybody else. My daughter is gone, but nobody must be affected in the future. Please take action against the college. That is only the right thing to do now.
Stating that the college had given prior information about the drill to the students, one of Logeswari’s classmates said, “The trainer told us that he had conducted this training in many other colleges. He showed us the video of all the trainings he had conducted elsewhere during the morning session. In the afternoon, at around 2.50, we all went to do the drill. It was voluntary. Logeswari used to be interested in participating in sports events and all, so she also expressed interest in participating in the drill. She seemed scared to jump though.”
A video of the incident shows a reluctant Logeswari being pushed by the trainer from the second-floor ledge. The police have taken the trainer, TR Arumugam, into custody and have filed a case under Section 304 (a) of the Indian Penal Code for causing death by negligence.
The trainer had claimed to be part of the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA); however, the NDMA has denied this.
“Unfortunate that this incident has happened & we have lost a young life. Our heartfelt condolences to the family. However, the National Disaster Management Authority wasn't involved in this drill. The trainer wasn't authorized by NDMA to conduct such a drill,” tweeted NDMA on Friday morning.
There is now no clarity on the credentials of the trainer.
(The story was first published on The News Minute and has been republished in an arrangement.)
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