Delhi: Class 7 student dies after scuffle with ‘bully’ classmate in school

The victim’s family alleged he was beaten by a group of students but police said only one boy, whom they later apprehended, was involved.

A Class 7 student of a private school in northeast Delhi’s Karawal Nagar died on Thursday morning after a scuffle with his classmate inside a classroom.

The victim’s family alleged he was beaten by a group of students but police said only one boy, whom they later apprehended, was involved.

Police said the 14-year-old boy was a victim of bullying by his classmate, also aged 14, who often taunted and called him names.

The victim’s family alleged he was beaten by a group of students but police said only one boy, whom they later apprehended, was involved.

Police are probing the school management’s role. They are also probing how the school was open on Thursday, when the education directorate had told all schools to remain shut because of Chhath Puja celebrations.

The incident happened around 11.30 am, when the students had a ‘free period’. No teacher was inside the class when the boys entered into the scuffle inside the classroom.

Police said the victim was shoved towards a wall by his classmate. The boy then hit his head on the wall and lost consciousness. He was declared dead later.

DCP (northeast) AK Singla said investigation so far has showed involvement of only one boy. “We have apprehended the boy and booked him under sections of culpable homicide not amounting to murder. He frequently bullied the deceased teenager. The name calling and taunts led to a fight on Thursday morning,” Singla said.

The DCP said the school authorities called the police control room in the morning and informed that one of their students had been rushed to a hospital. The teenager was first taken to a nearby private hospital and then to a government hospital, where doctors declared him brought dead.

The teenager’s younger brother, who studies in the same school, alleged his brother was beaten by a group of student – an allegation the police denied.

The victim’s cousin said when he heard about the incident, he rushed to his brother’s class but by the time the boy had already been taken to a hospital. “One of the boys who hit him had taken him to a hospital and there was no teacher present in the classroom when the incident happened,” he said.

The teenager’s father told HT the school authorities were equally responsible for his son’s death. “If two boys were fighting inside a class, was it not the responsibility of someone from the school to stop them? I lost my child and now I want justice,” he said.

Police said there were no visible injuries on the child’s body. “The school told us that no teacher was present because it was a free period. We will probe why the school was open on Thursday,” DCP Singla said.

A man claiming to be a representative of the school told HT that a fight broke out between two students and one of them was taken to a hospital. The official refused to make any other comment.