NAGPUR: The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) on Friday issued a notice to the Maharashtra government after taking suo motu cognisance of the deaths of three tribal girls who were bitten by a snake inside their hostel at an ashram school in Gadchiroli district.NHRC notice to state govt after 3 girls die of snake bite in GadchiroliThree of the victims – aged eight, 12 and 14 -- died while the other three were admitted to the Government Medical College and Hospital and Gadchiroli Civil Hospital. The surviving students recovered and were discharged on Friday morning.A day after the tragedy, chief minister Devendra Fadnavis ordered the permanent cancellation of the school’s licence and directed the administration to shift its students to another school. Co-guardian minister Ashish Jaiswal and tribal development minister Dr Ashok Uike also visited the school and evaluated its condition.NHRC described the matter as a “serious issue of human rights violation” and directed the Maharashtra government to submit a detailed report within two weeks. The report has been sought on the circumstances leading to the deaths as well as the health status of the three students who survived the snakebite.The commission, citing media reports, also flagged the allegedly appalling conditions at the hostel, where as many as 79 girl students are reportedly accommodated in a single room. It noted that the hostel, which has been functioning for around 25 years, allegedly lacks basic facilities. It also pointed out that Gadchiroli records a significant number of snakebite cases every year.The police have arrested the headmaster of Japtalai Ashram School, Prashant Tatpalliwar, 51, and male warden Bhaskar Bhoyar, 50, in connection with the deaths. Former Lok Sabha member Marotrao Kowase, who is chairman of the Kuparlingo Sanstha trust that runs the school, and his son Vishwajit Kowase, the trust’s secretary, have been made co-accused in the case. However, they have not been arrested so far.Tatpalliwar and Bhoyar were produced before a court in Gadchiroli on Thursday afternoon and remanded in magisterial custody for 15 days, Dhanora SDPO Jagdish Pande, who is investigating the case, said.Police have registered a case under Sections 106(1), 125(A), 125(B) and 3 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), along with Section 15 of the Juvenile Justice Act, against those accused in connection with the incident in which six girls were bitten by the snake.