Batala boy kills self with dad’s gun after scolding over low score

BATALA: A 17-year-old boy died here on Wednesday after he shot himself with his father’s revolver the previous night, hours after he was reportedly scolded by his teachers and mother over low score in Class-11 mid-term exams.

The boy was identified as Karanbir Singh Bhullar of Malave-Ke-Kothi village in Batala sub-division of Gurdaspur and was studying at Cambridge International School in Amritsar, around 35 km away.

His mother, Parminder Kaur, told the police that her son was upset due to poor performance in Class-10 exams, but she denied having scolded him. His friends, however, said on the condition of anonymity, “Karanbir was scolded by teachers and his mother on Tuesday over his marks in the mid-terms. She then took him home.” He came back after a few hours to take his motorbike from the parking, they said.

At night, Karanbir locked himself in a room at the house and shot himself with a .32bore revolver. Hearing the gunshot, family members broke in through the door. He was rushed to a hospital in Amritsar, where he died.

Ravneet Kaur, the school principal, said his performance was not good for many months; he often bunked school, and did not deposit fee that he took from home: “When his mother came to the school to know about it, he was not able to give a satisfactory reply. She did not scold him in front of me.” Assistant sub-inspector Jagir Singh said the matter will be probed “from different angles”.