In a ghastly incident, a 12-year old Class VII student of Sapphire International School here was allegedly killed in the wee hours of Thursday under suspicious circumstances inside the school campus.
Though police are tightlipped in this regard, sources in the police revealed that the boy was killed after being made victim of sexual abuse by one of the teachers of the school. The student has been identified as Vinay Mahto, son of a property dealer, based in the same locality.
Three teachers were being interrogated by police till late in the evening at Tupudana OP, under Hatia Police Station.
“We are conducting the investigations taking all aspects into consideration and it will be too early to comment on this before all the reports reach to us. Forensic team has also been involved in the investigations and we are likely to get the postmortem report by tomorrow following which we will be able to say anything,” said ASP Hatia Prashant Anand. CCTV footage is also being scanned to get some lead in this regard, he added.
According to Anand, one or two persons have been identified as the prime suspect and the investigations are being conducted in the same direction. “It seems to be an unplanned murder committed by an individual to fulfill his ulterior motive,” said Anand.
SSP Kuldeep Dwivedi also asserted that investigation was on taking all aspects into consideration. Sources in the police department, however, revealed that the boy was probably killed after being sexually abused by the culprit. Investigations are still being conducted in this regard and three of the teachers are being interrogated after detention,” said a source.
The sources further claimed that it was a clear cut case of sexual abuse and one photograph of a boy wearing a girl’s dress was also found from one of the prime suspect’s laptop. “The culprit also seems to be mentally unstable as several posters have also been found in his room marked cross and written — “Fail…fail….fail… Fortunes are not made like this.”
Anand was found dead near the teachers’ hostel early in the morning at 3 am at the school campus. Though the school administration claimed that the boy died after falling in the school building, Mahto’s father Manbahal Mahto registered an FIR alleging the school administration of killing him.
Boy found dead in school, sexual abuse suspected
The school, however, has been announced closed till further orders.
Meanwhile, Ranchi Parent’s Association General Secretary Ajay Rai, demanding stringent action against the culprit, has also requested the police to make school administration a party to it. “The school administration is as responsible as the culprit for the murder. Despite the fact that school campus was being guarded by 17 CCTV cameras and 16 security guards how a person could make it to the teacher’s hostel,” said Rai.
The district administration has also ordered a probe in this regard under District Education officer. The School administration, however, was not available for comments as they did not pick up the phone.