Delhi Police said three students have been detained, adding the boy was "punched in the face"
Highlights
- Family says classmates killed Tushar Kumar who had injury marks on body
- School claims the class 9 student was unwell and died in the hospital
- 3 detained after camera footage showed him being punched by classmates
A Class 9 student who died after being found unconscious in the toilet of a Delhi school was murdered by his classmates, his family has alleged. Three students have been detained after security camera footage showed Tushar Kumar, 16, being punched by his classmates in the washroom in what the police described as a "
dadagiri-type" fight on Thursday morning.
"The boys had a fight of sorts. They were in the same class and the fight that started in the classroom went on outside.
Dadagiri type ka jhagda hua," said a police officer.
Tushar was taken to hospital after being found unconscious in the toilet by some students.
The school claims that he had been unwell and died in hospital, but his parents allege that there was a cover-up. "If he was unwell, why would I send him to school? My son was cold when I touched him. The principal told us he had a stomach ache. He was dead in school," said his mother, surrounded by mourners from the family and neighbourhood.
"Bring back my son, they killed my son," she wept.
Tushar's parents allege that he was chased and beaten up by the three students and left to die in the washroom. And later, they say, the school tried to shield those involved.
There were no injury marks on Tushar's body, say the police as they wait for a post-mortem to establish how he died. Classmates and students who found him in the toilet have been questioned.
Tushar's family lives in Karawal Nagar in northeast Delhi, not far from his school in the same area. Yesterday, the boy's family members and residents came out on the streets in anger and shouted slogans outside the school, demanding an investigation into his death.
The case has chilling parallels to the murder of Pradyuman Thakur, a Class 2 student of Ryan International School in Gurgaon, who was found with his throat slit in a school toilet in September. The police believe Pradyuman was killed by a senior student who wanted the school to postpone exams and a parent-teacher meeting.