Delhi: Class 7 student kills classmate in scuffle over body-shaming; held

Authorities apprehended on Thursday a student from a private school in the capital for accidentally killing a classmate during a scuffle, an incident once again underscoring concerns over safety at India's educational institutions. The incident at Saraswati Gyan Public School in Karawal Nagar comes less than two months after the gruesome murder of a seven-year-old student at Gurugram's Ryan International School.

A police team reached the northeast Delhi school after the management reported that a Class 7 student was found unconscious in a classroom. The child has been identified as Awadesh Kumar (13).

"There was no teacher inside the classroom at the time when the fight started between Awadesh and another student," an investigating officer said. "The students present there said in their statements that the deceased had reportedly called the accused student 'fat'. This led to an altercation and the other student banged Awadesh's head on the classroom wall."

Awadesh was taken to a private clinic and later referred to a government hospital where he succumbed to his injuries. "We are waiting for the postmortem report to ascertain the cause of injuries since no visible marks were found on his body. We have apprehended the juvenile student for culpable homicide not amounting to murder. The juvenile section could be changed after the postmortem report comes to us," the officer said. Awadesh's younger brother studies in the same school in Class VI. The family lives in Karawal Nagar.