Police have arrested a suspect in connection with the murder of a seven-year-old boy who was found with his throat slit at Ryan International School in Gurgaon on Friday, media sources reported. Police have detained 42-year-old school bus conductor Ashok Kumar, who allegedly attempted to sexually assault the boy.
“The bus conductor attempted to sexually assault the boy; when he raised an alarm the conductor killed him… Accused had been working here for the past six to eight months. He had gone to use the toilet where he saw the boy. He had the knife with him in his pocket,” said a senior police officer.
Pradhyumn Thakur, a class 2 student, was found in the toilet by a school bus driver shortly after he was dropped off by his father on Friday morning, NDTV reported.
His father, a quality manager with a private company, had just reached home after dropping his two children when he was called by a school staff member.
“I dropped him around 7:55 am. I received the call around 8.10. They told me my son is bleeding… and they are rushing to the hospital, they asked me to come too. I rushed but my boy was dead by the time I reached,” he said.
“It is a clear-cut murder case. It happened inside the school. How can a parent know what happens to their child in school?
As the news circulated on WhatsApp, hundreds of anxious parents barged into the school building, flung furniture around and shattered glass award cases. Shouting angrily, they were escorted off the premises by police. Several parents went to the local police station and demanded that action be taken against the school.
The school denied that there was any delay in taking the child to hospital. “The child was looking serious. We didn’t lose a minute. We took the child in my car,” said officiating principal Neerja Batra.
Last year, a branch of the school in Vasant Kunj was accused of criminal negligence after a six-year-old class 1 student was found dead in a water tank. The investigation is ongoing.
The murder today has left educators and parents in shock.
“This is the worst thing to happen to anybody…There is a lot of anxiety among us after this incident,” said Ameeta Wattal, principal of Springdales School.
“It is an extremely sad day for all schools,” said Abha Sehgal, a former principal of Sanskriti School.
India should ban porn from its media and internet services. There are just too many cases of sexual violence. Porn fosters immature minds to commit such crimes, an insult to women and danger to children.