Modern School girl dies of asthma attack in class, family claims neglect

A class XII student of Modern School, Vasant Vihar, died after suffering an asthma attack in school on Tuesday morning.

Akriti Bhatia's parents have blamed school authorities for reacting late in taking her to the hospital. The school principal denied there was any delay on their part.

According to the school, the Commerce student complained of breathing trouble at 10.20 am; she was attending class at the time. She was reportedly given first-aid in school and taken to Holy Angels Hospital, Basant Lok, where doctors declared her dead on arrival.

Bhatia, 17, reportedly suffered from asthma.

While school authorities said the school nurse gave Bhatia oxygen and then took her to hospital, her father Vipin Bhatia alleged: "They waited till we sent a car to take her to the hospital; that's why she died. They had asked her to go to the second floor for permission to go home, and then asked her to go to the sports teachers' room. All this running around aggravated her problem."

School denies negligence charge.

But school principal Goldy Malhotra blamed the family for the delay in taking her to hospital. "We called her parents repeatedly but her mother insisted that she should be sent to her aunt's house," Malhotra said. "The school nurse insisted that the child should be taken to hospital. We never asked her to climb any stairs — in fact, the oxygen cylinder was brought down to the sports teacher's room because Akriti was already there."

Malhotra added that the sports teacher's room is on the ground floor, "so the question of climbing stairs does not arise".

The victim's aunt, Payal Verma, stays in Green Park; the Bhatias' residence is on Siri Fort Road.

Verma said, "We asked the school to send her to my house because it is closer; besides, construction work is going on at their (Bhatia) house. But the school waited till we sent a car before giving proper treatment."

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