Class 10 student held for death of junior in Vadodara school

A Class 10 student was held under the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act in connection with the killing of a junior student in a school in Vadodara, an official said on Saturday.

The body of the 14-year-old boy, a Class 9 student, was found dead with multiple stab wounds in the washroom of the school on Friday.

The victim had 10 stab wounds on his body, deputy police commissioner R S Bhagora had said.

The 17-year-old accused, a student of the same school located in Baranpora area, was held in Valsad town in south Gujarat on Friday night, Vadodara police Commissioner Manoj Sashidhar said.

A police team from Vadodara has been sent to Valsad to bring the teenager to the city, he said.

He will be questioned to learn the reason behind the brutal killing of the Class 9 student, police said.

The accused student came under the lens after he was spotted in CCTV footage entering the washroom along with the victim, they said.

The victim had joined the school only a week ago and was staying with his maternal uncle in Vadodara, while his parents live in Gujarat's Anand town, the police had said.

The killing was a grim reminder of the murder of a seven-year-old student in Gurgaon last year.

The victim was found in a pool of blood, with his throat slit, in his school's washroom on September 8 last year.

Meanwhile, Jagruti Pandya, chairperson of the Gujarat State Commission for Protection of Child Rights, said the mental condition of the detained student will be examined to know what prompted him to allegedly kill his junior.

Pandya said she has sought a report on the incident from the district administration.

She also held meetings with officials of the district education department, the city police commissioner and others over the incident.