Shock and anger in India after eight-year-old beats six-year-old in classroom
The girl, who was seriously injured, is out of danger, but remains traumatised by her assault, her family said.
Shock and anger in India after eight-year-old beats six-year-old in classroom
India has been shaken by video from a school CCTV camera showing an eight-year-old boy brutally beating a six-year-old girl.
The girl, who was seriously injured, is recovering in hospital and is now out of danger, but her family says she remains traumatised by the attack in Haryana state.
Police say a case has been registered and the eight-year-old has been sent to a home for juvenile offenders, where he is undergoing psychiatric evaluation.
The school principal and two other teachers have been suspended on suspicion of negligence, police said.
The incident took place in a government school in Panchkula, in the northern state of Haryana, on 28 October, but only came to light at the weekend after the CCTV footage spread on social media.
The boy’s motive is not known.
The horrific assault has caused shock across the country. Many people expressed distress over the little girl’s injuries and the brutality shown by the boy.
Panchkula police official Aditi Singh said the girl is recovering in hospital while the boy has been sent to a home for juvenile offenders.
Police say the eight-year-old, who is in third grade, told the girl that her father was waiting for her in a classroom, where he attacked her.
The girl’s family, who said she studies in kindergarten, reached the school after an auto-rickshaw driver told them he had gone to collect her but could not find her.
"When the girl was not found even after school ended, we went in to look for her. No one there knew where she was," her father told BBC Punjabi.
He said the boy who attacked his daughter told him she was in an upstairs classroom, where he found his seriously injured child.
"When I saw her, I almost screamed. Looking at her condition, I thought they'd killed my daughter. If a child isn't safe in school, then where will she be safe?"
The girl was first taken to a local hospital, then transferred to the multi-speciality PGIMER hospital in nearby Chandigarh.
A PGIMER statement said the six-year-old girl was "brought to the hospital with critical injuries".
The hospital said she is being treated by a multidisciplinary team of specialists, which is closely monitoring her condition and providing all necessary medical care.
"The circumstances involving this little child are deeply concerning. We want to ensure that she receives the best possible medical care, along with all the support and comfort she needs," the statement quoted hospital director Vivek Lal as saying.
In a video statement on Saturday, senior police official Aditi Singh said an FIR (first information report) had been filed against the school management for "negligence" and that the case was under investigation.
"The boy is being evaluated by mental experts under the Juvenile Justice Act and further action will be taken accordingly," she added.
Under Indian law, an eight-year-old cannot be punished or sent to jail, so the child has been placed in an observation home run by the Juvenile Justice Board, another senior police official Amarinder Singh said.
He added that in cases involving minors, the focus is on reformation and counselling.
Meanwhile, the Haryana state government has set up a committee to investigate what happened and whether there was any negligence in the case.