A shaken civic body yesterday stood exposed as Mayor Nandu Satam and other civic officials visited Municipal School No 3 at Vakola bridge in Santacruz (E) and inspected the dilapidated building yesterday.

On August 14, when students and teachers had gathered in the school quadrangle for Dahi Handi, Sheetal and two of her classmates went to the girls' toilet on the fourth floor around 4 pm. But just as one of the girls came out of the toilet, the heavy door suddenly swung in the breeze and tightly slammed shut, leaving Sheetal and her classmate, Purnima, trapped inside, Vakola Police said. Unable to open the jammed door, the two girls began crying forhelp. But nobody could hear them due to the noisy festivities going on in the quadrangle. The only way out, the girls realised, was through the broken window. Once out on the parapet, they thought, they would be able to attract the attention of the crowd below.On the condition of anonymity, some of the school teachers said Sheetal was the first to slip out of the broken grill, but could not balance herself on the ledge and fell down. Her friend, Purnima, followed her but got stuck on account of her larger built.

Surprisingly, the matter came to the notice of school officials only when a resident of an opposite building saw Purnima trying to wriggle out of the hole in the grill.

At 4.30 pm Sheetal was rushed to the V N Desai Hospital in Santacruz and from there she was taken to Nair Hospital in Bombay Central to be treated for multiple head injuries. However, the girl breathed her last a few days later.

The hole in the toilet window grill, it was learnt, was caused in the summer holidays this year whensome thieves had broken in. ``We have been writing to the concerned BMC officials since June to repair this broken grill. Now it has claimed an innocent life,'' said a school teacher. The school staff showed Express Newsline several other doors that are kept open for the same reason. ``Due to bad carpentry, once any of these doors are closed, one has to kick them at least ten times to open,'' said the teacher. The Vakola police does not suspect any foul play, and the girl's father, Yeshwant Mistry, too is not blaming anybody. ``I feel no anger against anyone, but I sincerely hope that such a tragedy does not happen again,'' he said.