“We are scared, so I am taking my son home,” said Nishikant Chaurasia from Umred village, whose 7-year old son Hariom studies in the school which has 800 students, 300 from Chhindwara and the rest from outside.

Already facing the heat after the double murders in Gujarat and the attack on the media that followed, the ashram authorities fielded the Manmodes to address the media_even before they were taken to the mortuary.

Asked why they preferred to talk to the media first, Pooja shot back, “You only caught up with us first.” Asked what were they told last evening, Pooja said, “We were told about Vedant’s death. He fell into a bucket in bathroom. We didn’t make any deep enquiry.”

Asked why they put the small kid in a school so far away from Pune when there are better educational facilities there, she said, “We found this school was the best. It gives, deeksha, shiksha and sanskar.”

In the mortuary, she broke down on seeing her child’s body as the father stood silent, holding her close.

The police registered a case of negligence against ashram manager Omprakash Prajapati and warden Manohar Jaiswal. Chhindwara Range Deputy Inspector General of Police K T Veiphei says the two could be arrested in a day or two.

“We are not ruling the possibility of a homicide. But we have nothing to base it on from the post-mortem report of Ramkrishna Yadav. It clearly says the doctors have no definite opinion about the cause of the death. There are no injury marks anywhere,” Vaiphei says. “We are not ruling out anything, including a possible conspiracy angle.”

... contd.