Three classmates held for murder of teen in school

NEW DELHI: Three students of a private school in Khajuri Khas were apprehended on Friday in connection with the murder of a 16-year-old at the school's toilet. Police said the victim, Tushar, had tried to stop a fight between two groups due to which one of them harboured ill-feeling towards him and decided to teach him a lesson. According to DCP (northeast) Ajit Kumar Singla, police had received a call about a boy falling unconscious in the school washroom. A team was rushed to the hospital where the boy had been taken. They learnt that the call had been made after four students informed a teacher about their classmate. "Following this, a case was registered under the sections of culpable homicide, but a probe revealed that the boy was punched on the face and neck by fellow students and died subsequently. The section of murder was later invoked in the FIR," Singla said. The police have also found CCTV footage from the school corridor that shows four boys thrashing Tushar. Tushar's family members alleged negligence on the part of the school as nobody informed them about him even an hour after his body was found. "We left him at the school gate at 8am, and in the next three hours I got a call from the school principal. She said that my son was really unwell and that they were taking him to a hospital. In a hurry, I did not even inform anyone and reached the hospital in the next 15 minutes, only to find my son being pulled out of the ambulance, unconscious," said Nisha. The boy's father, Sunil, alleged that teachers tried to conceal information and mislead them. "We want action against the school administration as well," he said. Nisha said Tushar had complained about an argument he had with the four boys a month ago but no action was taken. "He said that the argument occurred in front of everyone but nobody uttered a word to the four because of which he was upset. He did not tell me why the fight began in the first place as he thought that I might get worried and go to his school. When I thought things had normalised, they killed my only son," Nisha said amid sobs.