A Class IX student went on a rampage inside a school hostel in Ballari late on Saturday night, attacking his fellow students with an iron rod, killing a boy and injuring several others, police said on Sunday.
The incident took place between 10:30 pm and 11 pm at the student hostel of Gurukul International School after the students had retired for the night. According to the police, the student used a metal rod taken from a hostel bed to assault other students.
Ballari Superintendent of Police, Suman D Panaker, said that the boy hit several students during the incident, fatally injuring one of them. She added: “The accused student violently beat one of the students with an iron rod, which led to his death. He also assaulted the hostel guard during the incident. After carrying out the attack, the accused student fled the scene. The police began a search for the escaped student.”
Eight people, including the hostel guard, were injured and taken to hospital for treatment, police said, adding that the student also attacked a driver who tried to intervene and stop the assault. Two people, including a minor and the hostel manager, are still undergoing treatment while five others have been discharged from hospital, police said.
Ballari District Inspector General of Police, B S Harsha, visited the school on Saturday evening and later met the injured at the hospital.
The deceased student, Hemanth, 14, was from Adavani in Andhra Pradesh. His body was sent to Vijayanagar Institute of Medical Sciences (VIMS), Ballari, for postmortem. Police said that all the students involved in the incident were minors studying in the ninth grade.
A case was registered at Prospet police station based on a complaint filed by the boy’s father, Lakshmikant. The FIR has been registered under Sections 103, 109, 118, 118(2) and 125 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS). The investigation will also examine the role of the school administration, police said.
Teams from forensics and the Crime Scene Officers Unit visited the hostel and collected evidence, including blood samples and items believed to have been used in the assault.
The victim’s father said that he received a late night phone call from the hostel informing him that his son was in serious condition. “I received a call from the hostel late on Saturday night informing me that my son was in a serious condition. When I came to Ballari, my son had already died,” he said.
The boy’s parents claimed that the school administration was responsible for the incident and wondered how such an attack could have occurred inside the hostel. “How could one boy attack so many students so brutally?” They asked.
Govinda, the head of the school, said that the student is from Junalu village in Ballari district and comes from a farming family.
“Those who know him describe him as a quiet boy who rarely quarreled and was considered a good student. Teachers and fellow students also shared positive comments about him. He played cricket regularly between 4 pm and 5 pm every day,” Govinda told HT.
He said he was shocked and saddened after learning of the incident on Saturday evening. He added: “Nothing like this has happened before, and we are unable to understand why such an incident occurred.”
