The Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court has directed the Tenkasi Superintendent of Police to entrust the investigation into the death of a five-year-old girl student on a school premises in the district to a sincere police officer either in the rank of Deputy Superintendent of Police or Inspector of Police and ensure that a fair and proper investigation is conducted.

The court was hearing the petition filed by V. Marisamy, father of the student. The petitioner’s daughter, who was studying UKG in a private school, was found dead on the school campus on March 24. The school management claimed that two persons who had come to the school in a car to see a staff member drove the car in a rash and negligent manner inside the school premises and hit the child, due to which she died.

A criminal case was registered and the same was pending at the investigation stage. The petitioner, not satisfied with the manner in which the case was registered and investigated, sought a CB-CID probe into the case. The grievance of the petitioner was that he was not informed about the incident till he personally saw the dead body of his daughter at the hospital. Neither the Principal nor the Correspondent of the school informed him about the incident, he said.

Justice B. Pugalendhi said considering the manner in which the FIR had been registered belatedly, without specifying the name of the accused, without securing the accused and also considering the fact that the vehicle involved was not immediately seized by the police, the court was of the view that it was a fit case for transfer of investigation. However, the court was of the view that it did not require an investigation by the CB-CID.