Class 2 boy ‘sacrificed’ in Hathras, relatives demand death penalty for suspect | Latest news India

A software company employee whose 11-year-old son was allegedly strangled by his school principal and teachers during a botched occult ritual in Uttar Pradesh’s Hathras on Friday demanded death penalty for the child’s killers, claiming that more people were involved in the heinous crime were involved. that shocked the state.

Sri Krishna Kushwaha, a software professional working at a private company in Noida, shifted his family to his village in Hathras district during the pandemic.

But dreams of a better future for his children were crushed this week when the school’s owner, manager, director and two teachers kidnapped Kritarth from the hostel to perform a tantric ritual for the prosperity of the institution, and eventually killed. it.

“We are not satisfied with the handling of the case because we believe that others were also involved. A special investigation team should be constituted for proper investigation,” Kushwaha said.

Police arrested five people, closed the school and said the hostel was running without permission. They also said a similar occult attempt was made with a previous student on the night of September 6, but was stopped when the teen argued.

“My only son was attacked so brutally that his collarbone was broken. The school authorities say the CCTV camera was not functioning on the day of the incident and no footage is being provided to us,” Kushwaha said.

“Bulldozing action should be taken against such schools and the responsible school authorities should be publicly hanged,” he added.

The crime was committed on Sunday, but came to light on Thursday when the five suspects were arrested.

Police said Jasodhan Singh, the owner of DL Public School where Kritarth was enrolled, believed in tantric rituals and asked his son Dinesh Baghel, the school’s principal, to sacrifice a child for the ‘prosperity’ of the school and his family.

“On September 22, the student was abducted from the school’s hostel by teacher Ramprakash Solanki, Dinesh Baghel and school owner Jasodhan Singh. Jasodhan Singh believes in ‘tantra’ practice and asked his son to sacrifice a child for the prosperity of school and his family,” said Ashok Kumar Singh, Additional Superintendent of Police (ASP) of Hathras.

They took the student to a secluded spot for the sacrifice and began shaving his head, but the student woke up and began crying and struggling, the officer said.

Kritarth was beaten to silence him, but when he resisted, the suspect reportedly stuffed a cloth in his mouth, police said. “Then he was strangled. Another teacher Veerpal Singh and school principal Laxman Singh were also present at the spot and were guarding the place,” Ashok Kumar Singh added.

The next morning, Kushwaha said he received a call from Baghel, saying his son had fever.

“The school is 6 km from my village. I asked him to take my son home so I could get him treated. He said the boy’s condition deteriorated and that is why he was taken to Agra,” Kushwaha said.

The family became suspicious and intercepted the school van in Sadabad on the Agra-Hathras road. The body was found there.

“We found my son’s body along with his school bag. Why would you carry a school bag for a sick student?” Kushwaha asked.

He said he had no idea that the school management was indulging in occult practices and that he also admitted his daughter to the school this year. She did not stay at the hostel but went to school in a taxi with some other girls, he said.

Police said a location near a tube well was selected as the location for the ritual, adding that a rope, keys and a religious text were found there.

“Police have found material commonly associated with occult practices,” said Hathras Superintendent of Police Nipun Agarwal.

Police said the student’s post-mortem report showed he had been strangled. They have arrested Jasodhan Singh, Baghel, principal Laxman Singh and two teachers Ramprakash Solanki and Veerpal Singh and lodged an FIR against them under section 103 (1) (murder) of Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS).

Police also said they found another student, a teenager, who said Baghel, an occult practitioner, tried to kidnap him in his sleep on September 6, but he raised the alarm, prompting teachers and other students to kill him to get help.

The DL Public School was closed on Friday following orders from the education department, which is investigating how a school with permission to conduct classes only up to fifth standard, up to class 8, was operating with a hostel.

The hostel had a strength of 35 students and there were 24 students there on the day of the incident, people familiar with the matter said. The two-story school building had about twenty rooms where about 700 to 800 students studied.

Agarwal said the primary education officer was in the process of filing a complaint on the basis of which a case will be registered under relevant sections.

“The school, which was now closed, was not sanctioned to have residential facilities for students. The school has violated several membership conditions. After the case is registered, legal action will be taken against the school management,” Agarwal said.

But this meant little to the inconsolable father. He had put Kritarth in school, hoping that he would have a good educational foundation. He paid an annual amount of ₹1 lakh.

“During Covid, my wife and children came back to our native village Hathras. I thought I would get my son admitted to a better school in a bigger city later,” he said.

In lower kindergarten Kritarth was a day scholar, but from upper kindergarten he was housed in the hostel. “It was better to have my family in the village, and financially easier for us. Over the weekend, I visited from Noida,” he said. “Now it’s all lost.”