Mother walks barefoot to demand justice for four-year-old deceased son

SHAH ALAM - To leave a child in the care of others is often nerve racking for any mother, more so for a mother sending their precious child to a childcare or school for the first time.

Thoughts on whether a child is left in the right hands often plagues a mother's mind at work, and more often than not they could not wait to be reunited with their child.

To lose a child while the child is in the care of others is every mother's worst nightmare, and this is the living nightmare that D. Nilaveni, 40, has had to go through since losing her four-year-old son, V. Thanes Nair, a few months ago due to what the family has claimed as negligence.

Eager to seek justice for her son, a distraught Nilaveni today walked barefoot from where she left her son that fateful day at the Kuala Klebang Kinder Labz kindergarten to the Perak contingent police headquarters.

According to a media invitation for the walk, it was organised by Nilaveni to call upon the Perak chief police to conduct a detailed investigation to find out the truth of what really happened to Thanes and also to submit evidence of the kindergarten's negligence.

According to reports, Thanes was found unconscious in a swimming pool next to the kindergarten

He died on April 23 at the Raja Permaisuri Bainun Hospital (HRBP) in Ipoh at about 10.35am after being admitted on April 17, the day of the incident.

Nilaveni also claimed that the pre-school management had distorted the matter by saying that they did not know that Thanes was autistic.

"Thanes was diagnosed with mild autism, and has a speech delay which was diagnosed by the doctor.

“The doctor then recommended an early intervention programme for three months and he asked for him to be sent to kindergarten for him to socialise,” she said.

Nilaveni is claiming that the pre-school failed to monitor her son's movement leading him to fall into the swimming pool, which later resulted in his death.

She was then contacted and told that her son had fallen but was not told that her son had actually fallen into a swimming pool and only knew about it at the Chemor Health Clinic.

It was her son’s first day attending a trial class at the kindergarten, Nilaveni said.

Her son was then sent to the hospital, when they claimed that he was already in a critical condition.

Thanes died six days after the incident.

It was reported that the management of Kinder Labz had issued a statement that they were saddened to learn of the four-year-old boy's death due to an unfortunate drowning accident.

In the statement, it said that the incident took place at a clubhouse located next to Kinder Labz on April 17.

"We can confirm that Thanes was attending a trial class at our school when the tragedy occurred at about 10am on the day of the incident.

"The management and staff at Kinder Labz are working closely with the authorities and have given statements and provided all existing evidence, including the CCTV footag to authorities to facilitate the investigation into the matter.

"We wish to extend our sincerest condolences to the family of Thanes, especially his parents, whom we will continue to keep in our prayers," the statement read.

Ipoh OCPD Asst Comm Yahaya Hassan was reported as saying that a report was lodged by the kindergarten's principal on April 18.