Bengaluru : A Class 3 student of the Government Lower Primary School, Pattandur Agrahara in Whitefield, who was missing since Monday afternoon, was found dead in the sump inside the kitchen of her school the next morning.

Sussana (9), the only child of Swamy and Narasamma, both daily wage labourers from Andhra Pradesh, had left for school on Monday morning.

When she did not return home even at 7 p.m., her parents grew suspicious and started looking for her. They asked her friends residing nearby and visited the school, which was locked by then. When no one had a clue to her whereabouts, they lodged a missing complaint with the Whitefield police at around 11 p.m. On Tuesday morning, while the Samudayadatta Shale programme was being held in the school, teachers found the girl’s body floating in the sump when they opened the kitchen door.

They alerted the police, who shifted the body for post-mortem and informed her parents.

“Preliminary investigations revealed that the girl drowned to death after accidentally falling into the sump. However, the nature of death can be ascertained only after the post-mortem reports,” a police officer said.

The police said the school staff said they would open the sump in the afternoon to check the water-level and close it in the evening. Sussana might have been fallen into the sump because she did not notice the open sump door, he added.

Case of unnatural death registered

The police have registered a case of unnatural death for now and the principal has been booked under section 304 A for causing death due to negligence.

“Only after examining the post-mortem reports can we ascertain the exact nature of death. A detailed investigation will be carried out and if required the school management will be booked for negligence,” the police said.