Gurgaon: Bus conductor arrested for 8-yr-old’s murder in Ryan International school, ‘confesses to attempted sexual assault’

The second standard student was found in a pool of blood by school authorities. Police recovered a knife from the crime scene.

A bus conductor was arrested on Friday in connection with the murder of a second grader at a prominent private school in Gurgaon. The eight-year-old boy was found outside a school toilet, crawling and bleeding profusely before he died.

Police team arrive at Ryan International school in Gurgaon on Friday to investigate after the murder of a Class 2 student. (PTI)

A source in Gurgaon police said the suspect may have attempted to sexually assault the child. The source added that, on interrogation, the bus conductor allegedly confessed to trying to sexually assault the boy on Thursday as well.

The police have also detained five others, including the bus driver and the gardener who first spotted the child.

Deputy commissioner of police (south Gurgaon) Ashok Kumar Bakshi earlier said they received a call from the school authorities around 8am.

“The victim struggled and crawled outside the toilet when a fellow student noticed him in a pool of blood,” said Bakshi. He was rushed to a private hospital in Gurgaon where he was declared dead.

The boy was dropped to the school by his father and as soon as he reached home he was told by his wife that there was an emergency involving their son.

The incident sparked protests by parents, two of who were arrested for vandalising the school property. Several others held a sit-in protest at the police commissioner’s office.

The father of the boy, who works as a quality manager in a Gurgaon-based private company, said his son was killed either by a school staff or a senior student.

“The police should conduct a detailed inquiry into the matter. When we reached the school they told us that first aid had been given but the boy was taken to Artemis Hospital where he was declared brought dead,” he said.

Anju Dudeja a teacher at the school, said, “First we took the child to the hospital, the nurse said that we should give first aid first instead of taking him directly to the Artemis hospital. Our focus was to save the child and meanwhile the parent was informed. I was in the corridor and was about to enter my class when the gardener and student came to me and informed about the incident, I was shocked and rushed towards the washroom where I found Pradyuman lying in a pool of blood. We immediately rushed towards the hospital”.

“We did not even wait for the ambulance, we took the student in my car. We tried to save him but it was a fatal unfortunate incident. We will ensure the culprit is arrested at the earliest and school will support the police by all means,” Neerja Batra, the officiating school principal, said.

The boy’s uncle alleged there was no support from the school management and action should be taken against them.

His sister studies in Class 5 in the same school.

Deputy commissioner of police Simardeep Singh, who is officiating as the Gurgaon commissioner of police, reached the school and a forensic team also scanned the crime scene. Singh said he would comment only after all the facts have been verified.

Classmates of the boy told the police he used to go to the toilet every day after reaching the school. The police said preliminary investigations suggested the accused knew about the habit. They also claimed a knife was found near the body.

The police have filed a murder case under section 302 of the Indian Penal Code at Bhondsi police station and started an investigation. The body has been sent for a post mortem examination.

The police have retrieved footage from one of the 16 CCTV cameras in the school, which they said could provide some lead in the case. But they were told by school authorities that the CCTV camera positioned outside the toilet was not functioning.

Parents protest

Around 200 agitated parents entered the school premises and vandalised it after they came to know about the death of the student. They said they were not satisfied with school’s response to the incident and demanded someone from the management should be arrested for negligence.

“There have been several incidents where the safety of kids was compromised in the past too. We often took up the matter with the school authorities which were always brushed under the carpet,” the mother of a Class 3 student, who did not want to be named, said.

Members of Purvanchal Sangathan also protested at the mortuary in Civil Lines, where the boy’s body was taken, and stalled the autopsy.

“We demand the arrest of the accused and only then post mortem will be allowed,” said Deepak from the Sangathan that includes people largely involving Bihar.

The boy’s family belongs to Madhubani in Bihar.

The protestors blocked traffic at Sector 14 road before the police reached and removed the blockage.