Overview
- A Class 11 student, Raj Kushwaha, died after contacting an overhead 11 kV line while fixing a flag on his Datia school rooftop, and his family staged a highway protest demanding action against school officials.
- A physical education teacher, Priyabrata Behera, was electrocuted in Maitapur, Balasore when an iron pipe used as a flagpole touched an overhead line and several students who tried to help suffered shocks and were treated.
- Police have registered criminal cases: an FIR under Section 105 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita was filed in Datia and an unnatural-death case is being probed in Balasore, with authorities searching for school management figures in the Datia matter.
- Reports conflict over the type and voltage of the lines involved, with some accounts calling them low-tension wires and others citing 11 kV high-tension lines, complicating technical attribution and liability.
- Officials and families say these deaths follow other similar accidents during Independence Day preparations, highlighting gaps in safety practices for temporary flagpoles and the need for clearer protocols and utility clearances.