Pics: Rons Bantwal
Mumbai, July 22 (MD): A 16-year-old school student was attacked by a junior in his school with a blade last morning. The victim is being treated in a private hospital and has received 38 stitches on his neck.
The victim and the assailant are both students of Fatimadevi English High School at Manchubhai Road in Malad (West). While the victim studies in Std X, the attacker is a student of Std VIII in the same institution.
According to the police, the incident occurred near the washroom on school premises at 9.45 am, during recess. The younger boy had brought a shaving blade from his home, which he kept hidden inside his shirt pocket. During recess, he asked his senior to meet him near the toilet, saying they needed to have an important discussion.
When the senior reached the toilet, the boy slashed his neck with the blade and fled to his classroom. Teachers found the victim and rushed him to Suchak Hospital, located near the school, and admitted him. The school then handed over the younger boy to the police.
Speaking to mid-day, the victim said, “Two days ago, the boy who attacked me got into a fight with another student. I intervened and stopped the fight. He had threatened me at that time, but I did not pay any heed. Yesterday, when I met him near the toilet, he removed a blade from his pocket and attacked me with it.”
Police Sub-inspector Jyoti Kute of Dindoshi police station said, “We have arrested the boy from the school under section 307 (attempt to murder) of the Indian Penal Code. We will produce him in court on Tuesday.” A doctor who has been treating the victim said, “When the boy was brought to the hospital, his condition was critical and he had injuries that reached the second layer of skin on his neck.
The injury was sustained just an inch away from the neck nerve. He has been given 18 stitches on the first layer of skin, and 20 stitches on second inner layer of skin.” The victim’s father told mid-day: “The school’s administration is responsible for this incident, as they never enforce discipline among students in the classrooms.
Even two years ago, a schoolboy had come to school without completing his homework. When the teacher raised her voice and shouted at him, the boy slapped the teacher in front of all the other students. A complaint was registered, but no action was taken against the boy. “The school teacher and the management should behave strictly with the student to set an example and avoid such violence in the future.”