Girl held for child murder

Fatuha: Patna police have arrested a teenaged girl boarder of a school hostel on charges of murdering six-year-old Abhimanyu, whose body was found in one of the rooms of the residential facility on Monday.

The 15-year-old girl, who has been charged with murder, has, according to the police, confessed her crime and said she was driven to killing the boy because she had been irritated with him for the past few months.

Deputy inspector-general (DIG) of police, Patna, Rajesh Kumar said: “We have arrested the girl who has confessed that she was irritated with the boy. The rural SP and his team are interrogating the girl and trying to find out her involvement in the murder.”

Kumar said the girl has been booked under Section 302 – pertaining to murder – of the Indian Penal Code.

Abhimanyu was a student of lower KG at Shefali International School at Devi Chowk Mohalla in Fatuha, about 25km from Patna.

Police sources said the boy may have witnessed something “objectionable” going on between two hostel boarders on the school premises. They suspect that as a result, the boarders might have killed the boy to prevent him from speaking out.

The murdered child’s sister Preeti, a student of Class I who also stays in the hostel, had told the police that on Sunday night, she and her brother were sleeping on the same bed when a senior girl student came and took Abhimanyu with her, saying they will return soon.

Preeti said that she then went off to sleep. When she woke up in the morning, Preeti found that Abhimanyu was senseless and blood was oozing from one of his ears. She raised an alarm, but by then the boy was dead.

Apart from arresting the 15-year-old girl, the police have detained three other girl students and are looking for a male student.

The male student is absconding and he is said to be close to the school administration.

The police are also looking for Virendra Kumar Yadav, the director of Shefali International School, and Ashok Kumar, the principal, both of who have been named in the FIR.

The two have been absconding since the murder came to the fore. Some other members of the staff have also been named in the FIR. But the police will take action as the probe progresses, DIG Kumar said.

The police on Wednesday interrogated more than a dozen persons, including teachers, students and members of the staff, of the school in connection with the murder. “The police are investigating and soon the reason behind the death will be disclosed,” Kumar added.

Abhimanyu’s father Rakesh Kumar, an autorickshaw driver from Rasulpur, and residents of the area have alleged that the child was murdered by the school management as the body bore injury marks.

Rakesh had earlier told The Telegraph that his wife Babita Devi had gone to the hostel on Sunday to give food to her children.

Courtesy: The Telegraph