Gianna School Death (Bangalore) – Part 2

After 2 days of the caretaker working in our house, my wife raised a concern on 18th January. We had found lice on our younger daughter’s head. We asked the caretaker to maintain hygiene as we didn’t want our children’s health to be affected.

On 19th January, we had gone to school. The principal and Maria ma’am made a normal inquiry about the caretaker. As obvious, we answered with the concerns we had found. We said that she was also working in the school. Some 50 students were studying there… her unhygienic ways might also affect the kids there. Kanchana had overheard this discussion. Later that day, she didn’t come to our house. Maria ma’am called us and informed us that she won’t work for us. I felt ok with that. I just asked, if, in any way, I could pay her for the three days she had worked. At that point, I got to know that she didn’t have a father. Her family was looked after by her mother. Maria ma’am gave me her mother’s number to complete the formalities.

After a couple of days, on Saturday, the caretaker’s mother called me. She said that her daughter would resume working as they needed money. “Please don’t fire her” – she had requested. I acknowledged that and said she could come on Sunday.

On 21st January, the caretaker came. I remember clearly, that she was in a foul mood, as if she was forced to work at our place. After reaching our place, she started wiping our floor. My wife and I took our kids into the room so that they didn’t get hurt in any way. During that time, I had plugged my Apple phone outside to charge it. After the caretaker was done with the cleaning work, I came out of the room to check if the floor was dry enough for my children to come out. Then I could not find my phone. I called my number from my wife’s cell. On the third try, somebody picked up the call. I was shocked! How could that be?! On the other end, somebody said he lived in a villa near to my flat.

We stay on the second floor of our apartment. Our balcony overlooks a two-storeyed villa’s open terrace. That’s about 10 meters from our balcony. The tenant of that house handed me over my phone. I was puzzled. He said that he had heard something hit the wall and came out to find the cell lying on the floor. When he looked around, he saw a woman putting the clothes out to dry, from the washing machine. He thought it was my wife. This was impossible as she was with me in the room, all the time. It was the caretaker. When we asked her regarding the phone, she declined boldly and put the blame on my elder daughter. I know my daughter; Gianna would never have touched my phone without my permission and obviously she wasn’t capable of throwing as far as 10 m distance from our balcony
Based on that incident, we made our guesses. I called the principal and complained about this. I had decided that I was going to fire the caretaker. The principal had called back at 7:30 pm and told he had other contacts and he would share those with me. When the caretaker was leaving our house, I warned her – there would be some CCTV footage from the opposite buildings from where our balcony is visible clearly. I could check them to catch the culprit.

This had happened on 21st January… the next day, on 22nd January, my daughter went into a coma and died on 25th January. I have my suspicions… it could be the caretaker who took her life…

On the evening of 22nd January, the principal had assured that he would look into the CCTV footage of the school to check if there was anything suspicious. They had 8 CCTVs on the campus. However, the time passed and on the 23rd, nobody contacted us from the school. To my shock, during the noon time, we received a message in the WhatsApp group chat, telling us about the school’s homework. We understood… everything was going on as normal in the school.

The next day, on 24th January, 4 of my friends went to the school to enquire. They learned that none of the guardians of the students were aware. After hearing this, some of the parents asked the principal. He said that the incident had happened outside the campus and there was no involvement of the school…

That day, the FIR was logged in the noon and the police arrived at the spot later. It seemed like the principal had left earlier… or fled… The police questioned the staff, especially the two caretakers who were present on that day. The school got over at 12:30 pm. They had daycare after school, that went on till 2:30 pm. We used to leave our daughter in the daycare since June.

The police arrested the two caretakers. I was there when the caretaker, the one we had fired, was getting arrested. Even her mother had arrived. I had noticed… they seemed so casual, okay on being arrested. There was not a spec of fear. Didn’t they have a heart?
The forensic team had accompanied the police. After collecting the samples of blood and tissues, they tested them. The initial results confirmed that Gianna had fallen from the terrace. Luckily, I had taken a picture of her yellow shirt on the day when she was being taken to Baptist hospital from North Bangalore hospital. It was torn in places and has a mark left buy the terrace’s wall. When the police tried to enact the entire scene using a dummy, it seemed like, she had got hit at many places before reaching the ground. I also have a video of the school campus. Before reaching the terrace, one has to pass through a floor. On the way, there are some construction items like iron rods, nails, and other broken items or raw materials. My daughter wouldn’t have the courage to go to the terrace alone.

After one reaches the terrace, one has to open a metal door, which would roughly take one to two minutes. My daughter was not strong enough to open that. Beyond that, there is an open terrace balcony and Gianna had fallen on the backside. One has to take a U-turn on the left and go through a passage to reach there. My daughter was afraid of heights and terraces… being a father, I know how much fear she had. She couldn’t have gone alone!!!

The CCTV footage of the school was handed over to the investigation department of Karnataka. As of now, no report has been published. Yet, I have heard a word that the CCTV cameras had stopped working from 20th January… I have informed everyone about this, who I have met from the administrative and judiciary bodies… but the problem is – there is no evidence so far. To make things worse, even the blood stains had also been washed up… When the doctor told me that my daughter had sustained injuries from a fall on 22nd January, that day itself I had asked one of my friends to check the school grounds. When my friend had reached there, he had seen Kanchana cleaning the floor with water.

My daughter was cremated on 27th January 2024. After that, the principal returned and surrendered to the police with a bail! He had also got bail for the other two caretakers who were arrested earlier! The principal, Thomas, is not only the principal but also the chairperson of Delhi Preschool Trust. The information is available on their site. A total of 6 schools come under this trust. Who knows if he is using his influence…

No video footage, the blood stains washed, the lies sold by the principal… everything seems to be going as per the school’s manner. In the chargesheet, the events before that day, on 21st January, have also not been recorded.

The forensic report was supposed to arrive this month. It’s already mid of the month. Currently, I am enquiring the inspector once in every week for the update. They say that they can only take more action after receiving the forensic report. I am just hoping that justice is served without any delay. At this point, I have nothing to lose. I have already lost my precious Gianna.

Part 1 : Click Here