Vadodara student stabbing: Teen killed junior to take revenge on school, say police

Friday’s murder of a Class 9 student in Vadodara has turned out to be a close rerun of last year’s killing of a seven-year-old at a school in Haryana’s Gurugram. The alleged killers picked a common murder site — a school toilet — and chose the victims at random. Both had exhibited behavioural problems in the past.

The Vadodara murder suspect, a Class 10 student of Shree Bharti Vidhyalay, confessed to killing Dev Tadvi, a junior, the police said; he said he had planned the murder to force the school to close in revenge for a scolding he received from teachers.

The body of Tadvi, 14, a newly enrolled Class 9 student, bore several stab wounds. A 12-inch knife was found near the body in a school toilet , and a satchel recovered from the roof of a temple adjacent to the school had more sharp-edged weapons, a bottle of chili powder solution and a blood-stained shirt. The suspect may have tossed the bag on to the roof from one of the classrooms, the police said.

“The accused had no animosity towards Tadvi. He barely knew Tadvi, who had taken admission only 10 days back. The accused had displayed behavioural problems on several occasions in the past for which he was scolded by his teachers,” said Vadodara police commissioner, Manoj Shashidhar.

“The accused wanted to take revenge on the school and wanted it to shut down. He found Tadvi when he reached the school on Friday. The victim could have been any student,” Shashidhar added.

On September 8 last year, a 16-year-old Class 11 student allegedly slit the throat of a Class 2 boy in a Gurugram private school. The suspect, who also had exhibited behavioural problems, too committed the murder in a toilet, picking the victim at random, because he allegedly wanted the school to put off an upcoming examination and a parent-teacher meeting.

Police officers said the Vadodara murder suspect is mentally tough and had shown no remorse for the murder. He had collected all the sharp weapons by himself from various places, said investigators.

The police said CCTV camera footage revealed the entire episode happened within 90 seconds. The suspect is seen pushing the victim towards the toilet. And he comes running out alone after 90 seconds.

The police also added that two boys were already inside the toilet and their presence didn’t deter the suspect from carrying out his plan. The other boys ran out of the toilet screaming and alerted the school authorities. In the meantime, the student fled through a back door.

Gujarat Child and Women Welfare Board chairman, Jagruti Pandya, on Saturday held a meeting with the school authorities and district education officers, and sought a report on the incident.

“We will try to understand the boy’s psychological condition and emotional state before taking any decision on his future. We should also keep in mind that he is in Class 10,” said Pandya. “It’s been only a few hours since his arrest. The kid might open up and share what he was going through after a while.”

The police arrested the 17-year-old around 3 am on Saturday from Valsad near the Maharashtra border, about 230 km from Vadodara. “He was trying to take shelter at a relative’s house in Valsad after running away from the school around Friday noon,” Shashidhar said.

A forensic test report revealed that Tadvi’s body bore as many as 31 small and big stab wounds. His last rites were performed on Saturday at his village in Anand district. His parents and sister live in the village, and he had been staying with his maternal aunt in Vadodara.

The victim’s relatives thronged the school located in a lower middle class area of Vadodara and demanded stringent punishment to the accused. They also demanded that the school be shut down permanently.

“I brought up Dev. He was more than a son to me. We want the accused to be hanged or given life imprisonment. The school should also not be allowed to function any further,” said Dev’s aunt Hansa Tadvi.

Chief minister Vijay Rupani termed the murder a sad incident. “When the psychological condition of children gets this worse, it becomes a matter of serious concern for both the government and society,” he told reporters.