Girl dies after collapsing in Gujarat school, family accuses officials of 'not allowing warmer clothes' amid cold

Rajkot: A 14-year-old girl studying in Class 8 at A V Jasani Vidya Mandir in Rajkot, Gujarat, died suddenly on Tuesday after collapsing in her school. According to her family members, the girl, Riya Sagar, died due to cold weather conditions and they claim that the school authorities should have allowed students to use warm clothes of their choice instead of just uniform sweaters.

The incident has prompted the district education authorities to direct that the schools in the area be opened an hour later than their normal start time in the morning in view of the prevailing cold weather conditions and also allow flexibility in wearing warm clothes by students.

Gujarat school student's death shocks school, family

Doctors said that Riya's death appeared to be due to a cardiac arrest, while her family maintains that she did not suffer from any health complications. District Education Officer B S Kaila said that the exact cause of her death will be ascertained after the post-mortem.

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"We have instructed schools to start after 8 am and allow students to wear shawls, mufflers, jackets, etc. In view of the issues raised by her (deceased student's) mother. This will be in force till January 21 and it may be extended till January 27," Kaila told the news agency PTI.

Deceased's mother says school should have allowed students to wear warm clothes

Riya's mother, Janaki Sagar, said that the school should have allowed students to wear warm clothes rather than sticking to uniform sweaters, which are not sufficient to beat the cold. She has appealed to schools to begin their classes a bit later in the morning in view of the prevailing cold weather conditions so that the health of students is not compromised.

Congress spokesperson Manish Doshi urged the government to take steps to prevent such incidents and delay the school opening time by an hour so that students do not have to suffer due to cold. Gujarat has witnessed a drop in temperature with cold wave conditions prevailing in parts of Saurashtra and Kutch regions in the last two days.

(With PTI inputs)