School fees call shocks grieving Indian parents

The parents of a dead Indian girl in Bahrain were in for a shock when they received a call from their daughter's school asking them to pay her "outstanding" fees, a media report said on Wednesday.

The girl, Abiya Shreya Jophy, however, died before the start of term.

The Indian School Bahrain (ISB), that apologised after the call was made about a week ago, was informed about the girl's death and that she was not enrolled at the start of term in April but still the parents were contacted to pay the fees, Gulf Daily News reported.

"It is unfortunate that the staff members at the school were so insensitive towards a mother's feelings," said Jophy Cherian, the father of Abiya Shreya Jophy, who died in January from chickenpox.

"When they called her 10 days ago on our landline, she told them that we lost Abiya and requested them to remove her name from the records," Cherian was quoted as saying.

"She has been very upset ever since and she has been devastated as she has been trying to cope with the loss with much difficulty," he said.

The school's chairman Prince Natarajan said an investigation has been launched into the "administrative error".

"We share the sentiments of the parents and we apologise," he said.

Cherian and his wife are from Kerala and have been living in Bahrain for the last 27 years.