Minors ‘kill fellow student in hopes of shutting down madrasa’ in Bihar

The next morning, only the 13-year-old relative returned home. When the boy’s father asked where his son was, the other boy said he had not seen him since morning.

The father rushed to the madrasa, police said, but the staff were unaware of the boy’s whereabouts. Another student was sent to search the rooms and bathrooms, but found nothing. Around 11 am, residents informed the father that his son’s body had been found in the cemetery behind the madrasa.

“When I reached, I saw my son’s throat had been slit, and there were multiple stab wounds on his body. A gamcha was tied around his neck,” the boy’s father told the police.

Kishanganj police were alerted around 12:05 pm. A team arrived at the scene and sent the body for post-mortem. An FIR was registered at 12:45 pm based on the father’s statement, in which he suspected the involvement of either madrasa staff or fellow students.

Following initial investigation, a team led by SDPO Gautam Kumar detained two juveniles based on “human intelligence and technical and biological evidence”.

“During interrogation, both minors confessed to their involvement in the crime. They revealed they had made a plan to kill a student from the madrasa, thinking that it would then shut down and they could go back to their homes,” said Kishanganj SP Sagar Kumar.

He added that the accused were “not very interested in their studies” and had allegedly been plotting the attack for days. “Previously, they had attempted to murder another child, but were unsuccessful due to the presence of other students,” Kumar claimed.

According to the police, the attack took place around midnight when the victim had stepped out to urinate. The two accused allegedly ambushed him near the bathroom and slit his throat. The body was then allegedly dragged to the cemetery.

Based on the confession, police said they recovered a knife used in the murder and the clothes worn by the accused during the attack.

The two juveniles have been produced before the Juvenile Justice Board. Police said they are preparing a chargesheet based on the “sufficient prosecutable evidence” gathered to ensure maximum punishment.