A 13-year-old girl died after collapsing inside her classroom at Kamala Model Girls’ High School in Ayatan village in Odisha’s Kendrapara district on Monday, with police investigating the incident and her family questioning whether she received timely emergency care.
The student, Bishwarupa Behera, was enrolled in Class VIII and lived in Mahadeadia village. According to the report, she reached the school at around 10am and collapsed shortly afterwards in the science classroom at the school, which falls under the jurisdiction of Rajkanika police station.
School authorities said Bishwarupa suffered a cardiac arrest. However, the exact cause of death has not yet been established. Dr Rachita Mishra, the medical officer at the Rajkanika community health centre, said the cause would be known after the postmortem examination report is received.
Teachers attempted to revive the student after she collapsed, and school staff took her to the Rajkanika community health centre. Doctors at the facility declared her dead. Police then sent the body to the district headquarters hospital in Kendrapara for a postmortem examination.
Headmistress Shardhanjali Rout said she was teaching science in the classroom when Bishwarupa collapsed. She said the school immediately informed the girl’s parents and called an ambulance to take her to hospital. The account places the school’s immediate response, including access to transport and first aid, at the centre of the inquiry now under way.
Bishwarupa’s family has questioned that response and alleged that cardiopulmonary resuscitation was not provided in time. Her mother, Sushree Sangita Behera, alleged that school authorities did not immediately take the girl to hospital 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 collapse.
The competing accounts have made the postmortem examination and police investigation important to determining the sequence of events. The medical findings are expected to address the cause of death, while the investigation will examine the school’s response and the circumstances surrounding the incident.
The headmistress has lodged a first information report in connection with the case. Rajkanika police station inspector-in-charge Sanjay Kumar Mallick said police reached the school and began an investigation. No final finding on the cause of death or the adequacy of the emergency response has been reported so far.
