Driver and attendant forgot about the girl, who is a senior KG student, who had been sleeping in the back seat of the school bus that had been parked by the side of a road in Navi Mumbai
Bhavna Chaudhary, from Dyan Pushpa Vidya Niketan School, CBD Belapur, was left behind on the bus because the attendant did not spot her sleeping on the last seat after dropping off all the other children to school
The parents of a five-year-old senior KG student are furious with the school management after their daughter was found alone on a school bus that had been parked by the side of a road at Kharghar earlier this week. The bus driver and attendant had apparently missed spotting her sleeping on the backseat. A passer-by, who heard the child crying, had called her parents alerting them to her plight.
Letter that the parents have sent to the authorities
The child, Bhavna Chaudhary, from Dyan Pushpa Vidya Niketan School, CBD Belapur, was left behind on the bus because the attendant did not spot her sleeping on the last seat after dropping off all the other children to school. A woman passer-by out on a morning walk in the locality heard the child crying. When she checked the bus, she saw Bhavna huddled on the last seat. She waited for a while near the bus and soon saw the bus driver and cleaner walking toward her. When she asked them about Bhavna, they told her they were unaware that she was still inside the bus and had gone to get some paan on their way back home. The passer-by then informed the girl’s parents by calling on the number on her school badge.
Passers-by who found the child wailing in the bus
The girl’s father, Mangilalji Chaudhary, said, "A woman called me after seeing my contact number on my daughter’s identity card. We complained to the school about the incident and the school has taken required action in the case."
Sarah Kuruvilla, the principal of the school, said, "There are no school-owned buses. We have private vendors running buses for our students. However, after the incident, immediate action has been taken. The vendor has been warned to keep a woman attendant on the bus and transport committee meetings are being held to understand and resolve problems."
She further said, "It was careless on the vendor’s part to miss a child on the backseat of the bus. The school bus service provider has suspended the driver and cleaner concerned. We are taking steps to ensure similar incidents are not repeated."
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