Tiff over pencil: Class 8 student in Palayamkottai attacks friend with sickle

MADURAI: A Class 8 student of a private school in Palayamkottai, Tirunelveli district came under brutal attack by a fellow student in fury, who was using a machete.

Subsequently, a Social Science teacher injured his finger while defending the victim. The incident occurred during class time at around 10.30 am on Tuesday, sources said.

Tirunelveli Assistant Commissioner of Police Suresh said a preliminary inquiry revealed that the incident occurred over a trivial issue, as both of them had a prior dispute over sharing a pencil for almost a month. They are friends and benchmates, too.

Further talking to reporters, the ACP said the victim suffered three injuries after the fellow student attacked him with a machete hidden inside a textbook in his school bag. Both the injured student and the teacher were admitted to a private hospital. However, they are out of danger.

“The fellow student accused of assault would be handed over to the Child Welfare Committee for further action,” the Assistant Commissioner said.

After learning about the incident at the school, some panic-stricken parents rushed to pick up their children back home. However, the school administration refused to allow students in the middle of the class since the annual public exam for SSLC students was under way. The parents then argued with the watchman as they were denied entry to the school, sources said.

Tirunelveli Chief Educational Officer M Sivakumar, when contacted, said the District Educational Officer has been instructed to intensify checking of students’ bags to prevent any such incident further.

Mostly, teachers in government schools had been performing routine bag checks, and photos and videos related to it were being posted on a WhatsApp group to monitor the proceedings.