School where teacher stabbed reopens with guards, new principal

With civil defence volunteers for enhanced safety and a new principal, the government school in Nangloi reopened on Thursday -- three days after it was shut down as two students allegedly murdered a teacher.

With civil defence volunteers for enhanced safety and a new principal, the government school in Nangloi reopened on Thursday -- three days after it was shut down as two students allegedly murdered a teacher.

Mukesh Kumar, a Hindi teacher, was stabbed in a classroom by two Class 12 students on Monday. Outraged teachers protested, demanding action against the accused boys and asking for security on school campus.(Sonu Mehta/Hindustan Times)

Mukesh Kumar, a Hindi teacher, was stabbed in a classroom by two Class 12 students on Monday. Outraged teachers protested, demanding action against the accused boys and asking for security on school campus.

Apart from the regular private guard at the school gate, five civil defence volunteers have been deployed to check entry of strangers into the school.

For three years the school did not have a principal. On Thursday, MP Singh joined the office. He has been moved from a school at Baprola in south-west Delhi. The vice-principal, who was officiating as the principal, has been transferred.

Teachers say it was the teacher’s murder that shook the administration into action.

Curious students were seen peeping into the principal office. Some of them complained that they were not introduced to Singh.

“On Tuesday, I got my transfer order and immediately reported to the school. I am now trying to get teachers together and motivate them,” said Singh.

The murder was the most discussed topic -- both among the teachers and the students. Since Mukesh Kumar was killed when most others had already left for the day, different version of events were being discussed. Some students were also spotted outside room number 108, situated on the first floor, where the teacher was killed.

Read: Delhi: School closed after stabbing incident as teachers go on strike

Fardeen Ahmad, a Class 8 student, said, “That was the room where we wrote our exam on Monday. I also heard that the two students (the accused) jumped from the first floor instead of using the stairs.”

Another student, Harsh Mehra, added, “They jumped the wall and escaped into the nearby slum.”

Teachers, some of whom witnessed the crime, were worried about their security.

“Having civil defence volunteers is a good idea. We just have one security guard who is old. If the school had more guards, we could have caught them (the accused),” said J K Sharma, who teaches history.

Teachers say nobody saw the murder coming.

“We had counselled the two students a couple of times. One of them got someone to impersonate as his father. We didn’t say anything because such things happen. But who knew they would kill? ” said Sharma.