UP school protest ends, student disappears: Search on for 16-year-old girl
Around 1,000 students of Sarvodaya Inter College in Kishanpur town, Uttar Pradesh's Fatehpur district, gathered outside the school on July 28 to protest poor infrastructure. The demonstration, which lasted about four hours, ended after district officials assured action. By the end of the school day, a 16-year-old Class X student had gone missing. Police, however, said there is no evidence so far linking the two events.
The protest began around 8 am, with students from Classes 6 to 12 demanding safe drinking water, repairs to dilapidated classrooms and leaking roofs, among other basic facilities. They carried placards, banners and a photo of Dr B R Ambedkar. The protest ended around noon after Fatehpur District Inspector of Schools Rakesh Kumar met the students and assured them their grievances would be addressed.
As students dispersed for the day, the Class X girl did not return home. Her family launched a frantic search, reaching out to friends, relatives and anyone who might know her whereabouts. On July 29, they filed a missing person's complaint at Kishanpur police station.
The girl is the eldest of four children; her father passed away last year. Her mother, Asha Devi, said the girl had cycled to school, about 8 km from their home, that day. "I spoke to her classmates and teachers, and they told me she had reached the school. A protest was organised… sometime after that, she went missing," she said. "After failing to trace her anywhere, I went to the police… we don't know where she is."
Kishanpur Station House Officer Manish Singh denied any connection between the disappearance and the protest, saying police had found no link. According to the probe so far, the girl reached the school but, on seeing the protest, turned around and went to a friend's house. She asked her friend's mother if she could change out of her school uniform as she had to attend a family function; the woman refused, and the girl left.
Police reviewed CCTV footage and traced the girl's last-known location to an area near a bus stand, where she was seen in her school uniform carrying a bag. Her bicycle was recovered from the roadside. Additional Superintendent of Police Gyan Prakash Rai said teams have been formed to investigate, and CCTV footage from the area is being scrutinised. A case has been registered.
The school principal, Lal Bahadur Singh, said police were investigating. He said they learnt the girl had come to school on July 28 but had no further information. He added that the protest had been organised by students and the administration had no prior knowledge. He said demands were being addressed, with fans being installed in all classrooms and arrangements for RO-filtered drinking water.
The government-aided institution has 1,850 students against a sanctioned capacity of 850, as it is the only school for Classes 6 to 12 within an 8-km radius. The school has 21 teachers, including the principal, and only 14 classrooms. The investigation is ongoing.
