A 19-year-old undergraduate student died during a disaster management drill in her college near Coimbatore on Thursday evening after she was allegedly forced to jump off from the building’s second floor and hit a ledge while falling down.
The deceased has been identified as N Logeswari, a second year BBA student of Kovai Kalaimagal College of Arts and Science.
Video footage shows the trainer, R Arumugam, prodding her to jump from the second floor of the building while she seemed reluctant to do so. The trainer forced her to jump repeatedly, and finally pushed her down. Logeswari rammed into the ledge of the first floor and fell unconscious to the ground.
The police said that Arumugam, who had a certificate from the National Disaster Management Authority to conduct disaster preparedness drills, has now been taken into custody.
Logeswari was referred to Coimbatore Medical College and Hospital where doctors declared her ‘brought dead’.
Police said the girl had suffered serious occipital injuries on her head and right neck.
Before Logeswari, at least five students had jumped off the second floor and had landed safely on the net below. Though students were standing on the ground with a safety net to help her land, as Logeswari had been pushed down, her trajectory did not lead her to land on the net and instead she banged her head against the sunshade on the first floor causing an unfortunate death.