‘Killed junior to avenge scolding by teachers’

AHMEDABAD: Friday’s murder of a Class 9 student in Vadodara has turned out to be a close rerun of last year’s killing of a seven-yearold boy at a school in Haryana’s Gurugram. The alleged killers picked a common murder site — a school toilet — and chose the victims at random. Both had exhibited behavioural problems.

The Vadodara murder suspect, a Class 10 student of Shree Bharti Vidhyalay, confessed to killing his junior, said police. He said he planned the murder to force the school to close i n revenge for a scolding he received from teachers.

The body of the 14-year-old victim, a newly enrolled Class 9 student, bore several stab wounds .A 12-inch knife was found near the body in a school toilet, and a satchel recovered from the roof of a temple adjacent to the school had more sharp-edged weapons, a bottle of chili powder solution, and a bloodstained shirt. The suspect may have tossed the bag on to the roof from one of the classrooms, the police said.

“The accused had no animosity towards the victim. He barely knew him. The accused had displayed behavioural problems on several occasions in the past for which he was scolded by teachers,” said Vadodara police commissioner Manoj Shashidhar.

“The accused wanted to take revenge on the school and wanted it to shut. He found the victim when he reached school on Friday. The victim could have been any student,” said Shashidhar.

On September 8 last year, a 16-year-old Class 11 student allegedly slit the throat of a Class 2 boy in a Gurugram school. The suspect too committed the murder in a toilet as he allegedly wanted the school to put off an upcoming exam and a parent-teacher meeting.

Gujarat Child and Women Welfare Board chairman, Jagruti Pandya, on Saturday held a meeting with school authorities and district education officers, and sought a report. “We will try to understand the boy’s psychological condition and emotional state before taking any decision. We should also keep in mind that he is in Class 10,” she said. Police arrested the 17-year-old on Saturday from Valsad.

State education minister Bhupendrasinh Chudasma visited the victim’s family at their village Bakhol in Anand. He announced aid to the tune of ₹11 lakh by the state government and gave a ₹2 lakh cheque given by Vadodara Teachers Organisation.