Class 10 boy murdered by classmate in Kodai school

The deceased has been identified as S Kapil Raghavendra, a resident of KCC Nagar in Hosur, and was pursuing Class 10 in the co-educational residential public school in Kodaikanal since Class 6. The accused is also of the same age and hailed from Thalavaipuram in Virudhunagar district, sources said.

Kodaikanal Deputy Superintendent of Police K Ponnusamy, when contacted on Tuesday, said the murder happened in the toilet at the school after study class got over at 7.45 p.m. A pair of scissors and cricket stumps that are believed to have been used to execute the murder have been recovered. According to the police, CCTV footage showed a school boy going outside the campus after 8 p.m. Except for the two boys in question, all others headed to the dining hall in the mess. The two boys, who were moving towards the toilet, are said to have engaged in a quarrel, that subsequently snowballed into blows.

In the melee, the victim was allegedly stabbed on the throat with a pair of scissors by his classmate and repeatedly struck on the head with the cricket stump.

Upon further inquiries, the DSP said both the students were found to have been friends, with their parents too having maintained cordial relationship with each other. The deceased is said to have teased a family member of the accused, which could have enraged the juvenile and provoked him to commit the murder, Ponnusamy added. The sixteen-year-old accused was produced before the Dindigul Juvenile Justice Board and has been lodged at an observation home in Madurai, the DSP said.

Dindigul Chief Educational Officer (CEO) KC Santhakumar said the ‘study class’ room in the school is located just about half a kilometre from the hostel. Batlagundu District Educational Officer (DEO) M Muniyandi has been assigned to conduct an inquiry and submit a report to the district administration, the CEO said. The school principal, Radhakrishnan, however, declined to comment when contacted.

The DEO said the incident could have occurred between 8 p.m. and 8.15 p.m., after the study class, which usually commences at 6 p.m. and ends at 7.45 p.m. As the two boys were found missing from the dining hall, a search was made to trace them. The accused, who was spotted in a nervous state by the public in Kodaikanal town, was taken to the police station around 9.30 p.m. after confessing the crime, the DEO said. While the victim studied in the school since Class 6, the accused joined there in Class 9, the DEO said.

The Kodaikanal Inspector of Police, S Rajasekar, said the victim died in hospital around 10 p.m. Based on a complaint lodged by the school principal, a case has been filed against the accused under Section 302 of the IPC. The body was handed over to his family after conducting post mortem in the Dindigul Government Hospital, the Inspector said.