Bihar: Three nabbed for sexual assault, murder of Class IX student

PATNA: The Gopalganj police on Thursday arrested two youths and took another minor boy into custody for their alleged involvement in the sexual assault and subsequent murder of a Class IX student of an upgraded government high school in the district on Monday.
The victim’s body was recovered from the classroom of the school under the Barauli police station area of the district on Monday. The girl’s parents started searching for her when she didn’t reach home from the school till late in the evening. The body was later found hanging from the ceiling fan while the room was locked from outside.
Acting on a tip-off, police arrested Ankit Kumar (18) and Niranjan Kumar alias Bhuwar (23) from Devapur village and detained a 17-year-old boy for interrogation. During interrogation, the trio admitted that they had hanged the body from the ceiling fan with her ‘dupatta’ after killing her in the classroom on Monday.
Though the accused admitted that the girl’s modesty was outraged before being killed, the postmortem report will throw more light on this aspect. Gopalganj SDPO Naresh Paswan said, “The postmortem report is awaited. Rape will be confirmed after the receipt of the report,” he added.
He, however, said that prima facie it seems to be a case of rape and murder. Ankit, a former student of the school, first entered the classroom when others students went to attend smart classes in another building around 2 pm on Monday. Two other students, including a minor boy, spotted Ankit and her girlfriend engaged in some unlawful activity and made a video of their act.
The two later sexually assaulted the girl even after her protest. As she was shouting for help, the three tied her hands, stuffed cloth in her mouth and strangulated her to death. Later, the body was hanged from the ceiling fan with her ‘dupatta’ to show that she had committed suicide.
The SDPO said that the accused seemed to have made a fool proof plan to commit the crime. “They also forced the girl to write on a paper that she was committing suicide at her own and nobody should be blamed for the same,” the SDPO said adding that police cracked the case in three days.
Gopalganj SP Manoj Tiwari said that while two suspects—Ankit and Niranjan—were sent to jail, the third accused, a minor, was produced before the Juvenile Justice Board, from where he was forwarded to the remand home. “I have asked the investigating officer to list the case for speedy trial,” he told this newspaper over phone.
Earlier in the day, a number of students of the school took out a protest march demanding justice for the victim. The school remained closed for the third consecutive days on Thursday. Even teachers have stopped attending classes in the wake of tension prevailing in the village after the incident.
The police had earlier lodged a case against unidentified persons on the statement of the deceased’s mother Rima Devi.
Principal of the school Shailesh Singh said, “The teachers have been suggested to mark their attendance in the office of the district education officer till the situation turns normal in the village. The teachers are apprehensive of reprisal from close relatives of the girl as well as the residents.”
(The victim's identity has not been revealed to protect her privacy as per Supreme Court directives on cases related to sexual assault)