Gurgaon: Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar on Saturday promised that the police would conclude its investigation into the death of a seven-year-old student of Ryan International School in Gurgaon within seven days.
Calling the child’s murder a “sad incident and a heinous crime,” Khattar said that the school’s principal has been suspended and strict action will be taken against the school authorities if any lapses are found on their part.
When asked if the state would cede to the family’s demands of a CBI probe in the case, the CM said that if the facts of the case do not become clear soon, he has no problem in ordering a high-level probe.
The Gurgaon police on Friday evening had arrested a bus conductor for murdering the seven-year-old student, whose body was found lying in a pool of blood in the school washroom in the morning. The accused, Ashok Kumar, was produced before a city court on Saturday and has been sent to three days in police custody.
Gurgaon Police Commissioner Sandeep Khirwar said that Kumar’s involvement in the crime has come to the fore clearly and they will piece the sequence of events together during the next three days. He said that the police would demand the constitution of a special court for a fast-track trial so that the accused can be given a strict punishment.
Khirwar said that the accused was inside the toilet, waiting for any student to come inside with the motive of sexual assault. The deceased was the first student who entered the toilet, he said.
He said the child resisted Kumar's assault following which the bus conductor murdered him. The child's throat was slit. He died before he could be taken to the hospital.
“Kumar said he was terrified and had to kill the minor to avoid detection of the sexual assault attempt. He left the knife in the washroom and washed his hands before escaping from there. He pre-planned the crime,” Khirwar said.
“His clothes and knife, which he used in the crime, have been sent for forensic examination. During his three day police remand, we will re-examine the sequence of crime and probe every detail," the commissioner said.
The accused spoke to some TV channels and on being asked whether he had committed the crime responded in the affirmative. “I had lost my mind,” he said when asked about the motive. Asked about the knife, he said it was already there in the school bus and he had come to wash it.
The boy’s parents, though are not happy with the probe, and have demanded that the school management also be named in the FIR. They alleged that the school staff and the students used the same washroom and this had led to the murder. The district authorities have formed a three-member panel to find out if Ryan International School, Bhondsi, had followed security norms.
“The additional chief secretary (education) has been asked to review the arrangements, including security, installation of CCTVs and facilities being provided in all the schools to prevent recurrence of such incidents,” Khattar said.
The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) has also formed a two-member fact finding committee to probe the incident and sought a report from the school within two days.
Ryan International School issued a statement on Saturday. “Following the tragic incident at our school yesterday (Friday), the school authorities have seriously taken up the review of the security measures at the school. All necessary improvements and measures are being audited and reinforced with the help of experts," it said.
We are also seeking advice from the Police department to guide us in this regard, it said.
"While, we are all in great shock and grief at the loss of life of our beloved student, we are taking these steps simultaneously to ensure vigorous safety measures in place for all our students and staff. We are closely working with the investigating authorities so that we could be guided further with their expertise," the school statement said.
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