School booked for negligence as child consumes toxic substance

New Delhi: A playschool in Janakpuri has been booked for negligence after a two-year-old boy allegedly consumed some poisonous substance during school hours, police said on Saturday.

The boy, identified as Utkarsh, is in a hospital and out of danger now. However, the poisonous chemical, which he had consumed, is yet to be identified, police said.

The case came to light on Thursday when Utkarsh's mother Pushpa, having gone to pick him up from the playschool, found her son in extreme pain and vomiting continuously.

She went to the teacher and authorities at the playschool to ask what had happened, but they claimed to have no knowledge of the matter.

"Utkarsh was then taken to a hospital nearby where his mother was told that the child had been brought there a few hours ago by the playschool staff.

"Doctors who examined the child said his condition was serious and that he needed to be admitted immediately, but the playschool staff refused to do so and went away," police said.

When Utkarsh was finally admitted to a hospital in Janakpuri, he was diagnosed with some poisonous chemical in his stomach and immediately shifted to the ICU. But when his mother went back to the playschool to take up the matter with the authorities there she got no response and, thereafter, lodged a complaint at Janakpuri police station.

"They (playschool authorities) didn't even say anything about what the child might have eaten or how the poisonous chemical could have entered his body," police said, adding that inquiries are on into the case.