The headmaster of a high school in Katwa, East Burdwan, was arrested on Thursday for negligence following the death of an 11-year-old student who was bitten by a snake on the school grounds.

The victim, Indrajit Majhi, was a Class V student at Koshigram Union Institution. According to reports, Indrajit experienced pain after being bitten on the leg while playing in the school playground on Tuesday afternoon.

After returning home, Indrajit complained of feeling unusually drowsy and weak. He informed his family about the incident at school. Indrajit was rushed to a hospital when he fell seriously ill but he was declared dead upon arrival at the hospital on Tuesday evening.

“My son went to the teachers and informed them of his suspicion that something had bitten him while in the playground. However, no one took him seriously. They merely applied ice and anointment and sent him away,” said Kartik Majhi, the boy’s father.

“But when I saw the mark on his leg, there was no doubt that it was a snakebite. I rushed him to Katwa Sub-Divisional Hospital, but it was too late,” said Kartik, a farmer.

A source in the local police station said the post-mortem conducted on Wednesday confirmed that the primary cause of death was snakebite. Following the revelation, the boy’s family and local villagers were enraged, blaming the school authorities for their negligence.

On Thursday morning, around 300 people, including the student’s parents, gathered at the school to protest against the death of the student. They demanded punishment for the headmaster, holding him responsible for the boy’s death.

“If the student had been taken to the hospital in time, his life could have been saved. The death is the result of gross negligence on the part of the school authorities,” said a protester.

Headmaster, Purnendu Banerjee, however, denied any knowledge of a snakebite incident on the school premises. He refuted the family’s claim that the boy had approached either him or any teacher with complaints of being bitten by anything. Later, the police arrested Banerjee from the school.