RANCHI, July 28 -- An unborn child died in the womb after district education officials allegedly withheld a teacher's childcare leave, demanding a bribe of Rs.50,000. Mukesh Kumar Tiwari of Lesliganj, informed this to Hindustan Times after submitting a formal complaint to the Town Police Station in Medininagar, seeking a murder investigation against Palamau district education officer Sandeep Kumar and two clerks, Ishwari Dayal Ram and Arun Kumar Giri. "DEO, his staff and institutional negligence led to the death of my child and left my wife fighting for her life. I want proper action in the matter," Tiwari, who is associated with Jharkhand Police and posted at Hazaribagh, told HT. According to the complaint, Tiwari's wife, Bharti Pandey, a teacher at Kasturba Gandhi Residential School in Chainpur, had applied for childcare leave on July 3. When Tiwari visited the DEO office to check on the application, clerks Ishwari and Arun Giri allegedly demandedRs.50,000 to process it, a demand later echoed by the DEO himself. Despite bringing the matter to the attention of the deputy commissioner, who intervened via phone, the DEO reportedly refused to grant the leave, reprimanding the couple instead. Forced to continue travelling long distances for her school duties without rest, Bharti suddenly fell critically ill on July 25. She was rushed to a local nursing home, where doctors conducted an ultrasound and declared that the foetus had died in the womb due to the physical strain. Ironically, just hours after the tragedy, a clerk from the DEO office forwarded an approval message for 185 days of leave to Tiwari's phone. Tiwari accused the DEO and his staff of corruption and institutional negligence that directly led to the death of his child. Local police are reviewing the complaint to initiate formal legal proceedings against the accused officials. Contacted DEO Sandeep Kumar pleaded innocence. "Allegation of bribe demand is wrong. Delay behind the sanctioning of leave was due to late presentation of the related file before me and action has been taken against the person concerned," DEO Kumar said. Deputy Commissioner of Palamau, Dilip Pratap Singh Sekhawat, echoed DEO Kumar saying the reason behind the baby's death was not the delay in granting leave but a medical reason. "The teacher had a 9-month and 4-day (post-term) pregnancy. She had a problem of fluid leakage from the uterus. Prolonged delay in hospital admission despite prior medical advice created a problem... leading to the diagnosis of a term stillbirth," the DC said. Later a press statement from his office presented the administration's position that echoed the DC and DEO. The statement also clarified,"...at the departmental level that Bharti Pandey had not applied for maternity leave. Instead, she had submitted an application to the District Education Officer's office for 'Child Care Leave,' citing the need to care for her 7-year-old daughter, Aditi Kumari. Based on the application and affidavit, and in accordance with departmental rules, the District Education Officer, Palamu, sanctioned 185 days of Child Care Leave via Letter No. 1069 dated July 25, 2026. The Palamu district administration states that action has been taken based on the facts of the matter, and necessary steps are being taken to prevent such situations in the future," the statement reads....