The mother of the Strathspey Primary pupil who died on Monday night at the Georgetown Public Hospital as a result of an incident in the school’s compound earlier that day is seeking justice for her son.
Dead is 11-year-old Mark Harrypaul of Lot 4 Vigilance North, East Coast Demerara. According to the boy’s mother, Sushmita Singh, the incident occurred around 3 pm on Monday. She was informed by the school’s headmistress (HM) via telephone that another boy accidentally slammed a gate shut causing it to strike Mark at the side of his head. The blow also caused Mark to sustain a cut on his head. The HM also told her that as a result, she sent Mark home. Singh said that at first, she was concerned about her son’s condition but was reassured by the HM that everything was alright as she had dressed the wound. While at home, the boy was given Panadol to treat his headache and was put to bed. However, he was later rushed to the hospital by his father where he succumbed to his injuries.
Mark’s mother also disclosed that the other boy involved in the incident was a 14-year-old student of Buxton Secondary School who she later discovered would frequently go to the primary school and bully the pupils there. This she said was told to her by other parents who came forward the next day to express their concern about incident. She said according to what her son related to her on the day of the incident, the 14-year-old student took his rag and he retrieved it. The rag was taken for a second time and when Harrypaul was attempting to take it back, the 14-year-old ran and while running slammed the gate causing her son’s head to strike it.
Singh related that she asked the HM, “How can you send my child home with a burst head, [what happens] if he fall down pun the road? To which the HM allegedly responded, “No, he alright, I already dressed him.” The HM also asked the mother to give her an update when her son got home.
After the conversation, Singh called for her older son to check on his brother in the event that something might “go wrong” while making his way home. When Mark got home, he was crying and she questioned him to find out what had happened, which he did.
According to her son, “They went up to the HM and the HM put antibiotic and ointment and send him home.” She added that her son told her his head was hurting and she gave him Panadol for the headache and told him to rest.
At around 8 pm she went to wake him up and observed that he was not responding normally, so she decided to call for her husband, to take him to the hospital.
“I held his hand and shaking him saying, babe get up, get up, you gotta eat. After that he started to stiff himself up. Completely stiff. Me try to raise up his back, he cannot bend. Mark deh straight, straight. I holler for my husband and told him to come now, hospital…when my husband come, Mark get so heavy like I can’t move Mark but his hands and feet were moving but he was very stiff.”
The distraught woman related that after her husband headed off to the hospital in a taxi, she quickly made arrangements to have someone look after the other children. “I then left home and caught a bus to go the GPH. By the time I reach the hospital, Mark done dead.” Her husband reported to her that “the doctors attended to his son; he was alive when he reached the hospital. The doctors hustled to quickly do a check- up on him but couldn’t save him.”
A post-mortem examination which was done yesterday showed that Harrypaul died of a fractured skull (Epidural Hematoma) as a result of blunt trauma to head.
Meanwhile, the other boy’s parents said that the child didn’t go to school that day and that he was out of uniform in the Strathspey Primary compound playing. Other parents have come forward to state that the boy would normally be in the primary school’s compound playing or bullying other students.
When asked about the Ministry of Education’s response to the incident, Singh said, “On Tuesday people from the Ministry of Education [MoE] and also the CID came and the CID took statements concerning the matter. While the MoE’s secretary that was here said that the MoE will look into the matter and will assist financially with the funeral arrangements and whatever help they can do, they will do to help; the relatives have to inform the MoE about what they need.” She also noted that the CID questioned the boy and let him go.
Singh told Stabroek News that several incidents of bullying had occurred at the school before, but the HM never reported it to MoE officials.
“The HM didn’t report anything. The place where Mark hit his head, she polished the gate after the incident.”
The woman declared that she wants justice for her son’s death. She said Mark also contributed financially towards the home by selling icicles and custard and doing deliveries for a neighbour just to bring in an extra income for the family. He was due sit the NGSA examinations next 2024.
Meanwhile, Mark’s father, Roy Harrypaul told this newspaper yesterday that the children who witnessed what had happened related to him that his son “blackout” right after the incident. As far as he was made to understand, his son was carried up to the HM’s office by the 14-year-old child. He was told by the HM to apologize to his son which he did.
Stabroek News spoke to Senior Superintendent of Police, Khali Pareshram yesterday regarding what action will be taken and he replied that the matter is under investigation by the authorities.
Up to press time yesterday, the Ministry of Education (MoE) had not issued any statement.
However, on Tuesday, this newspaper contacted the MoE Public Relations Officer, Murtland Haley, who stated that the Ministry is awaiting details from a senior officer on the incident that occurred.
There has been a spate of violent incidents in and around schools involving students, parents, teachers and outsiders. The MoE recently launched an anti-violence pilot programme at a city school.
