Three Juveniles, Eight KISS Staff Arrested For Murder Of 14-Year-Old Tribal Student

The Odisha Police have taken three juveniles and eight teachers and staff members of the Bhubaneswar-based Kalinga Institute of Social Sciences (KISS) into custody in connection with the murder of a 14-year-old tribal student, a senior officer said on Wednesday, according to PTI.

The three juveniles were taken into custody for allegedly strangling the Class 9 student to death after he refused to share his bucket with them in the washroom. They have been booked under Section 106(1) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) and Section 75 of the Juvenile Justice Act, 2015, Commissioner of Police S Dev Datta Singh told reporters, PTI reported.

The KISS staffers, including an additional CEO and two teachers, were arrested for allegedly threatening witnesses to prevent them from disclosing the incident, destroying evidence and harbouring the offenders, Singh said.

“The class 9 student was strangulated to death on the night of December 11 after he refused to share his bucket with some others in the washroom,” the police commissioner said.

According to PTI, Singh said the boy’s body was handed over to his father with the claim that the child had died after falling in the toilet. However, the subsequent investigation revealed that the student was killed by a group of fellow students, and that the KISS authorities did not inform the police about the murder.

“Post-mortem examination revealed external injuries on the neck, indicating compression with a rough and tough ligature material. Classmates and hostel mates of the deceased also said that three CCLs (child in conflict with law) were involved in the incident,” he said.

Singh said a case of unnatural death was registered at the Infocity police station after it received a Zero FIR from the Keonjhar Town police station. The deceased’s father had lodged a complaint at Keonjhar Town police station on December 13, alleging that his son was killed and that the death was not accidental, as claimed by KISS, PTI reported.

In the FIR, the father stated that on December 12 he received a call from KISS informing him that his son had been admitted to the Kalinga Institute of Medical Sciences (KIMS) for treatment. When he reached the hospital, he was told by doctors that the boy had already died.

While the students have confessed to beating, throttling and strangulating the victim on the night of December 11, the investigation found that teachers and staff members intimidated and threatened minor witnesses to conceal the crime, the police commissioner said.

The eight KISS officials were booked under Sections 103(1) (murder), 238 (causing disappearance of evidence), 296 (obscene acts), 232 (threatening a person to give false evidence), 249(a) (harbouring an offender) and 351(3) (criminal intimidation) of the BNS, read with Section 75 of the Juvenile Justice Act, 2015.

The three children in conflict with law have been produced before the Juvenile Justice Board, while the eight KISS officials were produced before a court and remanded to judicial custody.

The death of the tribal student triggered protests in Keonjhar district, where locals staged an agitation in front of the collector’s office on December 13 with the body, demanding justice.

(With inputs from PTI)