The death of a Seventh-day Adventist Higher Secondary School student in Maninagar in a stabbing incident and the public outrage that followed have now reached the courtroom.
Vibes of India had reported that the Gujarat government had taken over the school’s management. VOI had also mentioned that the government takeover is unprecedented given it is possibly the first instance of a school being taken over despite being partially affiliated with a different education board.
And now, according to latest reports, the school has moved the High Court to contest the decision.
Additionally, the school management has approached the High Court challenging the inquiries ordered by the District Education Officer (DEO) into the school’s affairs following the student’s murder. The DEO has stated that students’ education and welfare will not be affected by the government takeover. These petitions are listed for hearing on Thursday.
The government took over the school’s administration about four months after a student was allegedly murdered by another student of the same school.
In August, Nayan Girishkumar Santani, a sophomore student, was fatally stabbed, allegedly by another teenage schoolmate, after what police assert was a 30–40 minute altercation outside the campus gates. When Santani stumbled back onto school grounds injured and seeking help, police claim critical minutes were lost as school staff failed to provide timely medical aid.
Although the police assert the altercation between Santani and the accused student lasted nearly 40 minutes (off school property) before Santani was stabbed in the abdomen, reports from the school state a much shorter duration of the events.
According to the school, the confrontation began just after school dismissal. The school states that Santani walked back onto the premises “clutching his stomach.” Here, the narratives further diverge.
The Ahmedabad City Crime Branch of Gujarat claimed school authorities failed to take immediate life-saving action. Police claim that nearly 20 minutes passed before the school called the 108 ambulance service. By the time an ambulance was dispatched, Santani’s mother had already arrived and insisted on rushing him to Sardar Patel Hospital in an autorickshaw.
Doctors conducted a three-hour emergency operation, but Santani succumbed to hypovolemic shock early the next morning. A postmortem revealed that although the external stab wound was only 1.5 cm, the knife fatally severed a major abdominal artery, causing 2.5 liters of internal bleeding.
Facing mounting public anger, the Seventh-day Adventist Higher Secondary School issued an official statement, strongly rejecting allegations of negligence and outlining its version of events.
During a memorial prayer for Santani that month, hundreds of people stormed the school’s campus. Local news outlets reported that angry crowds vandalised the school compound while several staff members were physically assaulted.
The state government’s intervention followed an inquiry into alleged discrepancies, which reportedly revealed several irregularities, including inconsistencies in the names of the trust allotted the land and the entity running the school, as well as the absence of Building Use (BU) permission for the campus.
Parents also called for the school’s closure, demanding severe punishment for those responsible.
The government resolution stated: “Keeping the interests of students in mind, it has been decided that the District Education Officer (DEO) will act as the administrator of the school, with the condition that there will be no new admissions. The Gujarat Secondary and Higher Secondary Education Board (GSHSEB)-registered school for Classes 11 and 12 will be taken over by the state govt.
The private primary school will be taken over under the provisions of the Bombay Primary Education Rules, 1949, and the primary, secondary, and higher secondary sections affiliated with the Indian Certificate of Secondary Education (ICSE) will also be taken over by the state government.”
The case now stands as a reflection of what happens when administrative failures lead to collective public indignation, forcing institutions to confront accountability.
Also Read: Fatal Stabbing Triggers State Takeover Of Seventh-day Adventist School https://www.vibesofindia.com/fatal-stabbing-triggers-state-takeover-of-seventh-day-adventist-school/
