Class 12 student shoots principal dead in Yamunanagar school
YAMUNANAGAR: A Class 12 student allegedly shot dead his school’s principal inside her office with his father’s revolver in Haryana’s Yamunanagar on Saturday, days after he was warned for low attendance.
Police said the 18-year-old boy showed up at Swami Vivekananda Public School during a parent-teacher meeting around 10.30am on Saturday, forced his way into principal Ritu Chhabra’s office and asked her to accept his project report.
He allegedly opened fire when the principal, who used to teach economics, refused.
The 46-year-old Chhabra was hit by three bullet injuries — one on the face and two pierced her chest. She died at a private hospital around 2pm.
This is the latest in a string of violence in schools across India. Last September, an eight-yearold student of a school in Gurgaon was murdered on the campus. Earlier this week, a six-year-old boy was stabbed inside a Lucknow school.
The teenager went to the school with his face covered and tried to escape after shooting Chhabra, but guards and parents who had come for the meeting overpowered him, police said. The student was arrested and charged with murder.
“The boy was not good at studies and alleged that the principal used to punish him in front of fellow students over his poor performance and low attendance,” Yamunanagar superintendent of police Rajesh Kalia said.
The pre-board examination begins on Monday.
According to police, when the boy was asked why he shot the principal, he said “she tortured me”.
Police said the boy broke open an almirah in his home and took the registered revolver of his father, a businessman, who was also arrested and charged under the arms act.
The father told police that he didn’t know anything about his son’s performance in school. Principal Chhabra is survived by her husband, a businessman, and two sons — one of whom is employed with a private firm and the other an engineering student.
Earlier, the sound of firing in school shocked teachers and student.
“Initially, we didn’t know what had happened. Later, we came to know our principal was shot dead by the student of class 12,” said a shaken teacher.
Authorities of the Yamunanagar school refused comments on the murder, but confirmed that the student’s attendance was low.
“The principal had informed him two-three times in the past week that he would not be able to attend the pre-board exam due to poor attendance,” school director Vimal Kamboj said.
The school has been sealed and a team from the state’s forensic science laboratory has taken blood samples from the crime scene for tests.
“We reside on the school premises but as it has been locked, we have to stay somewhere else,” said another teacher. He said his two children are still reeling under fear.
As the school is located in a residential area, the people staying nearby are also in a state of shock.
THE STUDENT, WHO WAS REPORTEDLY NOT GOOD IN STUDIES, WAS ANGRY OVER BEING SCOLDED OFTEN