At Hathras school, a ‘black magic’ workshop and rumours of more earlier attempts

The reported “black magic” workshop near the school. (Express Photo by Neetika Jha)

And it was his practice of “black magic”, they said, that allegedly caused the death of nine-year-old Kritarth, a hostel student at the school, on the intervening night of September 22 and 23 on campus. Dinesh, Jasodhan and three school teachers were arrested on September 26 in connection with Kritarth’s murder.

Hathras Additional Superintendent of Police (ASP) Ashok Kumar said, “The accused had planned to sacrifice Kritarth in Jasodhan’s room, but ended up strangling him at the school instead.” Police said Jasodhan used to perform “exorcisms” in that very room till a recent brain haemorrhage rendered his body partially paralysed.

ASP Kumar said they “recovered a rope, pictures, a key, a red dupatta covering a brick slab with a small platform and multiple plastic bottles” from Jasodhan’s room.

Sahpau Station House Officer (SHO) Manish Chikara told The Indian Express that their investigation revealed claims of “black magic rituals” being attempted on two other students in the past. “These claims are being verified,” he said.

Police said the accused carried out acts of “black magic” to rid their family of problems, including financial woes. In the earlier cases, they said, the children escaped after they woke up and started screaming for help.

However, Kritarth’s uncle Chandra Mohan rejected the police claim on other victims saying that “we would have known about it if it was true”.

In Kritarth’s case, police said, Dinesh and a school teacher allegedly strangled the boy to “shut him up”. Kritarth had allegedly started screaming after waking up outside his dormitory around midnight on September 22. The boy’s body was discovered by the Hathras police in Dinesh’s car in Agra, over 25 km from the school, on September 23.

A resident of Rasgawan village, located around 500 metres from the school, said the building was constructed during the lockdown and opened after the pandemic. “It was the best school in Hathras,” he said.

Both Jasodhan and his son Dinesh are residents of Rasgawan village, which has a population of 4,000 people. Of 450 houses in the village, nearly 200 houses belong to members of the Jatav community.

Rasgawan village Pradhan Munish Devi said the school, which has classes from nursery to Class 8, had 24 hostellers and nearly 500 day scholars.

Stating that Dinesh “has a BTech degree from a private college in Roorkee”, Devi said, “He started the school after returning from Malaysia,” she said.

When Dinesh’s school opened in 2020, Kritarth was admitted there as a day scholar at first. “He was a very bright boy. Since there are no tuition teachers in our village, we decided to move him to the hostel in the school there,” says his uncle Chandra Mohan.

Meanwhile, Jasodhan and Dinesh’s family has refuted all allegations against them. Jasodhan’s mother Kusum Pyari said, “My son and grandson have been framed. The police have no proof against them.”

Vineeta Devi, Dinesh’s sister, claimed he treated all his students like his own children. “He has two daughters, both toddlers. His wife has not spoken a word since his arrest,” she said.

Around 6.5 km from Rasgawan village lies Turksen village, where Kritarth’s joint family of eight lives in a two-room house. Late on September 27, a steady stream of visitors was seen walking in and out of the house.

Speaking to The Indian Express, Kritarth’s inconsolable father Shri Krishna, a Noida-based software engineer who is differently abled, said, “There is no black magic. The police have not been able to find out the real reason why my son was killed. When I last spoke to him around noon on September 22, he asked me to send him a bottle of Complan (a dietary supplement) and Rs 200.”

Calling his nephew’s murder a conspiracy, Ghanshyam Singh said, “There are CCTV cameras all over the school, even in the dormitory. When the police asked for the footage, they were told that the cameras were not working due to damaged wires.”

Recalling the day of the incident, Krishna said, “I come to Turksen every weekend. Around 5 am on September 23, Dinesh called me saying that my son had a fever. Since I was leaving for Noida, I told him to get Kritarth to the village for treatment, but he flatly refused to do so.”

Sensing that something was amiss, Krishna rushed towards the school. He called Dinesh after crossing 4 km to ask him about his location, only to be told that Dinesh had reached Sadabad, around 20 km away. “I told him to stay put in Sadabad. When I reached Sadabad and called him, he said he was in Agra. He stopped taking my calls after that, so I alerted the police. They found his car and my son’s body in the back seat,” he said.

“I wanted Kritarth to become the first district magistrate from our village. Everyone would tell me that he would fulfil my dream one day. The same people are here now to console me,” he said.