Schoolboy who set himself ablaze dies

Ten-year-old Ajay Jadhav, a Class IV student of Neelakhanteshwer Vidya Mandir here who set himself on fire on Wednesday, died in a Solapur hospital on Sunday morning. He had suffered about 60 per cent burns.

Jadhav poured kerosene on his uniform and set himself ablaze when his classmates had gone for the morning prayers. He then ran to the ground where everybody had assembled for the prayers.

He was immediately rushed to the hospital. On Saturday, Jadhav spoke to the members of the State Commission for Protection of Child Rights at the hospital.

He blamed himself for taking the extreme step. Similar views were expressed by his parents Pramod and Pushpa, who said they had not filed complaints against anybody.

They said Jadhav had set himself on fire for reasons best known to him. A source said the boy had recently returned from Talikoti hobli where he had been sent for residential coaching to join the Navodaya School.

There are many such coaching centres all over the district. Many students attend the coaching centres even though they are admitted to schools elsewhere.

Teachers who spoke to Express on condition of anonymity said this was a thriving business in the district. Coaching classes for the Navodaya School, Kittur Girls School and the Sainik School were being conducted for many years, they said.

But the Education Department had turned a blind eye to such developments in the district, and the students taking coaching classes were marked present in their schools, an Education Department source added.