School stabbing case: Girl suspect gets interim bail

LUCKNOW: The Class 7 girl student, suspected of stabbing Class 1 boy Hrithik Sharma on the Brightland School premises here on Tuesday, was released from the girls’ juvenile home in Barabanki after the Juvenile Justice Board (JJB) in Lucknow granted her interim bail on Friday.

The board will take up the suspect’s regular bail issue on January 30.

“The JJB has granted interim bail to the girl after examining her age-related documents. As per documents procured from the school, she would turn 12 in March this year,” said inspector of Aliganj police station Brijesh Singh. Six-year-old Hrithik was found by a school official with multiple stab injuries in the toilet on the second floor of the school building in Aliganj here on Tuesday.

The school management, however, lodged an FIR in the matter on Wednesday after the picture of injured Hrithik went viral on social media.

While the girl suspect and her parents denied her involvement in the crime, the police zeroed in on her after the boy identified her through a photograph.

Singh said the girl apparently stabbed Hrithik to get the school closed. The boy has told the cops

The JJB has granted interim bail to the girl after examining her agerelated documents. As per documents procured from the school, she would turn 12 in March this year BRIJESH SINGH, inspector of Aliganj police station

that while stabbing him, the girl murmured that the school will be closed if she kills him. Later, a kitchen knife and a scarf used in tying the boy’s limbs were also recovered from the school premises. Singh said a police team is trying to ascertain the exact reason behind the stabbing and added that they have sought help from the child welfare committee to question her as the girl is below 12 years of age.

The inspector said they have recovered a kitchen knife, a scarf used in tying the boy’s limbs, and hair strands of the attacker from the boy’s clothes and the crime spot. All the items have been sent for forensic examination. He said a request has been made to the forensic experts to examine the items on priority so that doubts over the girl’s involvement are cleared.

On Thursday police had arrested Rachit Manas, principal and co-director of Brightland School, after slapping charges of negligence in ensuring safety of students and not informing about the incident to police for over 24 hours. He was, however, later released after a court granted him bail.

Chief minister Yogi Adityanath also visited the injured child at Trauma Centre on Thursday.