A 13-year-old Class VIII student died after collapsing inside her classroom at Kamala Model Girls’ High School in Ayatan village of Odisha’s Kendrapada district on Monday, with her family questioning whether she received timely emergency medical assistance. The exact cause of death has not been established and is expected to be determined through an autopsy.
The student, Bishwarupa Behera of Mahadeadia village, reached the school at around 10 am and collapsed shortly afterwards. School headmistress Shardhanjali Rout said she was teaching science when the girl fell ill in the classroom. According to Rout, teachers immediately informed Bishwarupa’s parents and called an ambulance.
School staff took the student to the community health centre at Rajkanika, where doctors declared her dead. Police later sent her body to the district headquarters hospital in Kendrapara for post-mortem examination.
Medical officer Rachita Mishra said the cause of death was still unknown and would be known after the autopsy report. School authorities said the girl suffered a cardiac arrest, but that account has not been medically confirmed in the report.
Bishwarupa’s parents and relatives have questioned the emergency response after the collapse. Her mother, Sushree Sangita Behera, alleged that school authorities did not take the girl to hospital immediately and instead informed the family about her condition. The family has also asked authorities to examine CCTV footage from the school to establish what happened before and after the student collapsed.
The incident has placed the focus on the emergency procedures followed inside schools when a student suffers a sudden medical crisis. The report does not establish whether the school had trained personnel, a formal first-aid protocol or equipment for responding to such an incident. The family’s allegation regarding the absence of timely cardiopulmonary resuscitation is also part of the ongoing inquiry and has not been independently established.
The school headmistress has lodged an FIR in connection with the incident. Rajkanika police station inspector-in-charge Sanjay Kumar Mallick said police reached the school and began an investigation. The autopsy report and the police inquiry are expected to establish the medical cause of death and clarify the sequence of the school’s response.
