'My home is empty... no one left to play': Mother who lost both kids in Jhalawar school tragedy

Just days ago, the cheerful laughter of two siblings echoed through the courtyard of a modest house in Rajasthan's Jhalawar. Today, a deafening silence prevails, for the children were among the seven who died in Friday's school building collapse in the district.

Weeping inconsolably, the mother of a 12-year-old girl, Meena, and a 6-year-old boy, Kanha, wished God had taken her instead and spared her children.

"I've lost everything... I had only two children and both are gone. My home is empty... There's no one left to play in the courtyard. I wish God had taken me instead and spared my children," she said.

Among the many stories of sorrow, perhaps hers stands out as especially heart-rending, even as the tragedy has plunged several families into mourning.

The seven children were cremated on Saturday morning -- five together on a single funeral pyre, while the other two were consigned to flames separately.

Earlier, wails of grieving mothers pierced the air outside the mortuary of the SRG Hospital here as the bodies of the seven children were handed over to their families.

Some of them clung tightly to the wrapped bodies of their children, refusing to let go, while others sat in stunned silence, struggling to come to terms with the sudden and shattering loss.

VIDEO | The 35-year-old building of a government school in Piplod village collapsed on Friday morning, resulting in the deaths of at least seven children and leaving 27 injured. Jhalawar Collector Ajay Singh on Saturday visited a family that lost two children in the incident.… pic.twitter.com/QLf6qoJcc7

— Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) July 26, 2025

Another woman who lost her child in the incident raised questions on the role of the teachers present in the school at the time of the incident.

"The teachers went outside, leaving the children behind. What were they doing outside?" she said.

The tragic collapse has raised serious questions about the condition of rural school infrastructure in Rajasthan and the systemic neglect that turned a place of learning into a site of mourning.

Apart from Meena and Kanha, who was the youngest victim, those killed were identified as Payal, Priyanka, Kundan, all aged 12, as well as 8-year-olds Harish and Kartik.

Five of the school staffers were suspended, and a high-level inquiry into the matter was ordered. The school education minister has announced compensation of Rs 10 lakh to those families who lost their children.

Jhalawar district collector Ajay Singh met the grieving families on Saturday to console them.

Later, talking to reporters, he said appropriate action will be taken against those guilty.

"Five school staffers have been suspended, and a probe committee has been constituted. If needed, an FIR will be registered. If suspension has to turn to expulsion, that will be done," Singh told reporters.

He said all possible help and support is being given to the aggrieved families, and the school education minister has announced that a new building will be constructed in the village.

He said maximum financial assistance will be given to each family in the next 10 days.

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Reacting to a video of road patch work being done outside a hospital in Jhalawar ahead of the school education minister's visit to meet the injured, the district collector said, "I am unaware of it... I will take an update".

On the repair work of the school building, Singh said, "There are clear-cut directions for it. The district administration is making efforts to ensure that the incident does not occur again. District education officials have been directed to not let students enter schools if the condition of the building is not good."

He said it was unfortunate that no input was received from the school staff regarding the condition of the building. "If we had received any complaint, we would have got the building repaired and the incident could have been averted," he said.

On Friday morning, the children, all students of Classes 6 and 7 at Piplod Government School had barely assembled for the morning prayer when a portion of the building collapsed, burying over 35 children under debris, of whom 28 were injured.

Slabs of concrete, bricks and stones were piled up high, and scores of people, including frantic parents and teachers, helped in the rescue effort, searching through the mounds of debris to pull out the children.

After the incident, anger and sorrow spilled into the streets as locals blocked roads at Guradi Circle and outside SRG Hospital, demanding accountability. The protest, joined briefly by Congress leader Naresh Meena, led to his detention by police.

Protesters at Guradi Circle turned aggressive when police reached the spot to clear the roadblock and started pelting stones at the police, injuring a policeman. The police used mild force to disperse the agitators.

VIDEO | Rajasthan: Last rites of children killed in school building collapse incident being performed at Piplodi village in Jhalawar district.#RajasthanNews #jhalawarnews

(Full video available on PTI Videos - https://t.co/n147TvqRQz) pic.twitter.com/Dgh2dyPOIg

— Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) July 26, 2025

The NHRC on Saturday, 26 July, said it has issued notices to the Rajasthan government and the superintendent of police of Jhalawar over the collapse of a government school building in the district, resulting in the death of seven students and injuries to several others.

The National Human Rights Commission has sought a detailed report in two weeks.

A regular morning, alive with the chatter of students assembling for prayers, quickly turned into tragedy on Friday, 25 July, when a portion of the Piplodi government school building in Jhalawar district collapsed, killing seven children and injuring over 25, some of them critically.

The NHRC, in a statement, said it has "taken suo motu cognisance of a media report that a government school building collapsed resulting in the death of seven children and injuries to 28 others in Jhalawar district of Rajasthan on 25th July".

Reportedly, locals had informed the district authorities about the "dilapidated condition of the school building, but no action was taken", it said.

The commission has observed that the content of the media report, if true, raises a serious issue of human rights violation.

"Therefore, it has issued notices to the chief secretary, government of Rajasthan and the superintendent of police, Jhalawar, calling for a detailed report on the matter within two weeks," the statement said.

The report is also expected to include the health status of the injured students as well as compensation, if any, paid to the next of kin of the deceased, the rights panel said.

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