Kota/Jaipur: The cries of grieving families filled the air as the grief-stricken villagers of Piplodi in Jhalawar district Saturday bid a sorrowful farewell to the seven schoolchildren, aged between 7 and 13 years, who lost their lives in a govt school building collapse a day earlier.

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In one of the most heart-wrenching moments, the bodies of siblings, Meena and Kanha, were carried for cremation on a single pyre. Weeping inconsolably, the mother of 12-year-old girl Meena and seven-year-old boy Kanha, wished God had taken her instead and spared her children.

“I’ve lost everything… I had only two children and both were gone. My home is empty… There’s no one left to play in the courtyard. I wish God had taken me instead, and spared my children,” she said.

Apart from Meena and Kanha, who was the youngest victim, those killed were identified as 10-year-old Kundan, 11-year-old Harish, 13-year-old Payal, 8-year-old Kartik, all from Piplodi, and 12-year-old Priyanka from Chandpura. Six children were consigned to flames in Piplodi village, while the seventh was cremated in Chandpura.

Former chief minister Vasundhara Raje, accompanied by her son and Jhalawar-Baran MP Dushyant Singh, visited Piplodi Saturday afternoon to meet the bereaved families.

Raje handed over a contractual job appointment letter to the father of the deceased siblings, along with assurances of sustained support. “The state govt’s announcements are being followed up seriously,” she said, vowing permanent solutions to the village’s issues related to education and ration distribution.

The cremation was conducted in the presence of grieving families, fellow villagers and senior district officials, including collector Ajay Singh Rathore and SP Amit Kumar, turning the remote hamlet into a site of collective mourning.

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Sub-divisional magistrate Abhishek Charan later said, “Of the 21 injured children, seven have been discharged, while most others are showing signs of recovery.” Raje and Dilawar had met the injured children in Jhalawar on Friday.

The district administration announced that the affected school will temporarily resume classes at a nearby govt school from Monday. “A new school building will be constructed at the same location or at a new site if needed,” said Ram Singh Meena, chief district education officer.

A day earlier, school education minister Madan Dilawar announced that the new school building will have classrooms named after the seven deceased children as a tribute to their memory. Villagers, however, demanded Saturday that a memorial statue also be erected at the site of the collapsed school to honour the young lives lost.

CM Bhajan Lal Sharma Saturday reiterated what minister Dilawar announced Friday night that Rs 10 lakh compensation would be paid to each of the deceased children’s families, along with a contractual govt job to a member of each family.

Amid public anger, the acting principal and four other teachers were moved to Manohar Thana police station under protective custody. The Dangipura police registered a case of death due to negligence against five teachers of the school. Headmaster of the collapsed school Meena Garg told police that she never observed signs of structural weakness. “The day started like any other. What happened was completely unforeseen,” she said.

Former minister and Congressman Pramod Jain Bhaya also visited the village and criticised BJP govt for allegedly attempting to erase evidence by bulldozing the entire school structure swiftly.