Two Arrested for Murder of Class 11 Boy Outside Haryana School

The police have said that the murder was committed to avenge a slap.

Police investigate the murder of a Class 11 student in Haryana’s Panchkula.

(Photo: ANI/Altered by The Quint)

Police on Tuesday, 18 September, arrested two minors for for the murder of a Class 11 student, who was fatally stabbed on Monday in a brawl in Haryana's Panchkula city, adjoining Chandigarh, police said.

WHAT WE KNOW

Vikas Kumar was stabbed in the chest by his attackers outside the Government Senior Secondary School in Sector 7 in Panchkula following a tiff with youths suspected to be from Industrial Training Institute (ITI) in the city.

According to The Times of India, Kumar was stabbed with a sharp-edged knife by a boy in a group of 10-15 people. The boys were "dressed" in ITI college dresses, the report said. They fled after committing the crime, police told IANS.

A Class 10 student, Suraj, tried to save Kumar but was also stabbed in the hand, IANS reported. Both were rushed to the Sector 6 General Hospital where doctors declared Kumar dead.

Relatives of the victim staged a protest on Tuesday morning, demanding action by the police, The Times of India reported. They blocked the Kalka-Shimla road. Following the protest, two arrests were made by the police.

WHAT THE POLICE ARE SAYING

Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) Abhishek Jorwal told The Indian Express that the murder was committed to avenge a slap. On Saturday, Kumar had allegedly slapped one of the accused for snatching his friend’s mobile phone.

A peon at the education department office near the school confirmed to the police of having seen one of the youths carrying a knife. She told Inspector Aman Kumar:

“I even advised those youths to go away. When I asked them what they were doing, they said they had come for admission and that I had no business with that.” 

However, according to Hindustan Times, the police have also claimed that the two arrested were friends of the victim, and one of them accidentally stabbed Kumar during the brawl.

The police managed to identify the two minors with the help of a CCTV camera installed in a house near the school. Deputy commissioner of police (DCP) Abhishek Jorwal told The Times of India:

“Two accused involved in the murder have been arrested under Justice Juvenile Act, 2015. Both are minors. The accused will be sent to a juvenile home. The investigation is under progress.”

WHAT THE SCHOOL IS SAYING

The principal of the school told Hindustan Times that he asked for a police control room (PCR) vehicle to be stationed outside the school premises, because fights were common in the school.

Two letters were written in February and July to station a PCR van near the school, especially during closing time. “Nothing concrete was done,” the principal said.

Jorwal, however, countered the principal’s claim and told the daily that a PCR vehicle was not the solution to the problem.

“How can a PCR vehicle be deputed on duty for a single school? How can it solve the issue? If there are scuffles among students on a routine basis, the school should look into it. Why don’t they take the matter seriously and depute their own private guards?”

Jorwal as quoted by Hindustan Times

(Inputs from IANS, The Times of India, Hindustan Times, The Indian Express)