12-Year-Old Found Dead Under Mattress at Ashram-School Owned by BJP MLA in Maharashtra’s Wardha

The body of a 12-year-old student was found under a mattress at an ashram-cum-school owned by BJP MLA Dadarao Keche on Wednesday night, sending shockwaves across Wardha district in Maharashtra.

The incident was reported at the Yadavraoji Keche Ashram Cchool at Nara Village in Karanja-Ghadge Taluk of Wardha district on Wednesday night. The boy, identified as Shivam Samoj Uike, was reportedly last seen at the ashram-school at 9:30am on Wednesday. His body was found at 8:30pm that night when another student moved the mattress to sleep. Shivam hailed from Doma area of Chikhaldara Taluka in Amravati district of Vidarbha region.

The school is owned by BJP MLA Dadarao Keche, a senior leader from Vidarbha district of Maharashtra, who was in the news for violating lockdown during Covid-19 pandemic, allegedly to celebrate his birthday. Keche represents Aarvi constituency from Vidarbha region of Maharashtra.

Speaking to News18, Keche confirmed that he owns the ashram-school and claimed the boy died after falling from a high stack of mattresses. “I run that school. The incident took place on August 31 when the boy fell to the floor from the stack of mattresses. These mattresses are used every day by students and are later stacked up in the same hall. The boy fell from a height of 13-14 feet and hit his head. Local news reports say there was no one in the hall. That is not the case since the other students who were there informed the office staff about the incident.”

Speaking to News18, Inspector Sunil Gade said the post-mortem report is expected by Friday evening. “The post-mortem report should come out by Friday evening and it will have the cause of death. We have registered a case of accidental death and are continuing the investigation.”

Gade said the school does not have any CCTV cameras but Shivam was last seen between 9:30am and 10am that morning.

The incident has led to anger and outrage in the area with locals questioning the safety arrangements at a school owned by an MLA. Other students too are said to be shaken by the death and under stress.

Melghat MLA Rajkumar Patel, whose constituency the boy belonged to, also contacted the District Superintendent of Police and requested a thorough investigation.