14yearold boy ‘ beaten to death’ in school toilet
KARAWAL NAGAR School says boy was suffering from diarrhoea, causing his death; family says he was thrashed
NEWDELHI: A 14-year-old boy was allegedly beaten to death by his schoolmates on the premises of a private school in northeast Delhi’s Karawal Nagar on Thursday morning, police said.
Tushar Kumar’s body was found inside the washroom of Jeevan Jyoti Senior Secondary School located in Sadatpur area of Karawal Nagar, where he studied in Class 9.
While the police said there were no visible injuries or ligature marks on his body, his cousin Ravi alleged that he was beaten up by fellow students from the same school.
Police registered a case of culpable homicide not amounting to murder against unknown persons and said that they are waiting for the postmortem report to ascertain cause of death.
The postmortem is likely to be conducted on Friday by a medical board comprising three doctors, police said.
Deputy commissioner of police (northeast) AK Singla said around 10.30 am, the boy was found unconscious in the toilet of the school by fellow students who raised an alarm.
“The staff of the school first rushed him to a private hospital and then to Guru Teg Bahadur hospital in Dilshad Garden where he was declared brought dead,” said Singla.
According to school authorities, the boy was allegedly suffering from diarrhoea which allegedly led to his death. “There was no scuffle. The boy was not keep-
ing well. He fell unconscious and was taken to the hospital as soon as the school came to know of it,” said Thipti Shikha , a teacher from the school.
This was contested by Tushar’s cousin Ravi, who accused the school of allegedly hiding facts.
He also questioned the police’s claims of there being no injuries on the body of Tushar.
“He did not die because of any ailment but was allegedly beaten
up and that too under the watch of the teachers. I have seen my cousin’s body and there were injury marks on his neck and chest,” said Ravi.
He also questioned the school which allegedly chose to inform Tushar’s parents around noon, more than an hour before he found unconscious.
The family also staged a protest outside the school and were joined by local MLA and former Delhi minister Kapil Mishra. He, too, questioned the role of the school in the entire episode.
CCTV FOOTAGE
Police accessed the CCTV footage of the school that allegedly shows some children entering the washroom after Tushar.
“CCTV footage shows that he was allegedly taken to the washroom by a group of other children,” said Mishra, attributing the information to the police. Singla, however, said some children were seen entering the washroom after Tushar and police are speaking to them.
“Several allegations have been made by the family and we have registered a case under Section 304 (culpable homicide not amounting to murder) against unknown persons as a precautionary measure. If the postmortem substantiates the claims of the family, we will take further action,” said Singla.
This is the second such incident in Karawal Nagar in nearly three months.
In October last year, a Class 7 student of another private school died after a scuffle with his classmate inside his classroom.