Boy Who Succumbed After “School Bully” Slammed Gate into Head Died from Fractured Skull – PM Reveals

Accident – Death – Obituary News : Boy Who Died from Gate Incident Suffered Fractured Skull – PM Reveals

Kaieteur News – A post-mortem examination conducted on Wednesday on the school boy who tragically lost his life on Monday after another student slammed a gate into his head, has revealed that the victim died as a result of a fractured skull and blunt force trauma to the head.

The deceased has been identified as 11-year-old Mark Harripaul from Lot 4 Vigilance North, East Coast Demerara. According to reports, the child passed away at the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation a few hours after a gate was forcefully pushed into the left side of his head by a 14-year-old male student from Buxton Secondary School.

The 14-year-old, who is described as a “school bully,” allegedly snatched Harripaul’s rag and the young boy chased after him to retrieve it. During the chase, the Buxton Secondary School student forcefully slammed the gate, resulting in Harripaul being struck on the head. The incident occurred between 2:30 pm and 3:00 pm on Monday at Strathspey Primary School, where the 11-year-old was a student.

The perpetrator, who was not wearing a school uniform, reportedly frequents the school and hangs around. Vanie Singh, the mother of the deceased child, recounted the events: “As I reached home from work, the head teacher of the school called me, but I couldn’t pick up at the time, so I returned the call after 3. She informed me of an incident that took place at the school. So, I asked her what happened.”

The mother was then informed by the headmistress about what had transpired. “A boy snatched the rag from Mark, and Mark ran behind him, and the boy slammed the gate into Mark’s head. Not to worry, she cleaned out the cut and sent him home,” Singh explained.

Singh questioned the head teacher, expressing her concern about sending her son home in that condition. She instructed her older son to go and look for his brother on the road. On his way, he encountered his brother, and they both went home. Singh noted that Harripaul had been crying since they left the school gate. When she asked him what happened, he explained what the teacher had previously told her.

Since he complained of a headache, his mother gave him a painkiller. After taking the pill, she told him to go and lie down, which he did, falling asleep. Singh decided not to wake her son until later in the evening when the headache would have subsided. Around 8:00 pm, she attempted to wake him up for dinner.

“I said, ‘babe, wake up, you have to eat dinner,’ but he wasn’t responding. He was holding his hands very tightly and stiffening up. I called my husband and told him that this doesn’t look good; let’s take him to the hospital,” she said.

She entrusted her husband with the injured child, who then informed her that their son wasn’t moving. The family called a family friend to transport them to the hospital. When the car arrived, the father took the injured child and their elder son to the hospital, while Singh stayed behind with their other children due to the late hour.

However, she eventually made her way to the hospital. Upon arrival, she was greeted with the devastating news of her son’s passing.

Roy Harripaul, the child’s father, shared with the media that the hospital staff attempted to resuscitate his son, and while they may have detected a pulse, he remained unresponsive. “The doctor told me that the brain cells had probably shut down already when we arrived,” he said.

The visibly distraught father expressed his desire for justice for his son, stating that the perpetrator would have to face the consequences depending on the results of the autopsy. He filed a report at the Vigilance Police Station regarding his son’s passing, and statements were taken by detectives from the Cove and John Police Station.

Reports indicate that the perpetrator and his parents visited the Harripaul’s home, where they inquired about the family’s needs. Roy said, “We don’t need anything from them.” The grieving parents revealed that during the visit, no justification or mention of the incident was given. However, multiple eyewitnesses at the school corroborated the same story, confirming that they witnessed the older boy slamming the gate into the younger boy’s head.

The victim was reportedly eagerly looking forward to Christmas, and his father had planned to surprise all his children with new phones. Although the five children already had cellular phones, they desired larger ones, which their father was prepared to provide.

The deceased was described as a respectful and kind child who was his mother’s right hand. He took on the responsibility of caring for his younger siblings when his parents left for work in the mornings. The grieving parents are pleading with schools to implement systems to monitor individuals entering and leaving school premises. They are also urging other parents to instill values in their children to prevent similar tragedies from occurring.

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