No beds at Gadchiroli tribal school, a night of horror leaves 3 dead of snakebite

Three tribal schoolgirls in Gadchiroli died after a snakebite on Monday night, prompting outrage and criticism of the state of tribal residential schools in Maharashtra. The Anudanit Prathamik/Madhyamik Ashram Shala, a government-aided school for tribal children, had been operating since 1992 with 233 students. They slept on mats spread on the ground overnight, despite repeatedly raising concerns about a lack of beds to the principal who had promised beds after the Pola festival in September.

The incident occurred at the school in Japtalai village when a krait entered through an open window, biting six girls, with two dying on-site and another passing away en route to the hospital due to poor road conditions. A fourth girl remains in critical condition. The nearest hospital is 10 km away, exacerbating the delay. Deepika Madavi, 12, who was also bitten, was airlifted to Nagpur and is stable, while another 15 students are in shock and under observation.

The snake was killed and a show-cause notice has been issued to the school's principal and wardens. The Maharashtra Chief Minister ordered the cancellation of the school's license, and the state government is conducting a third-party audit of over 500 tribal residential schools in Vidarbha.