In the wake of a class 10 student's death in Assam's Tinsukia, an angry mob broke in and caused damages to the hostel where the body was discovered. The student was found hanging in the hostel's verandah outside his room on Thursday after which the family has claimed foul play in the entire incident.
The mob reached the hostel campus in Udoipur village under Tinsukia's Margherita sub-division and tore down the walls of the hostel campus. In the ensuing uproar, two of the hostel owner's vehicles were damaged.
The crowd demanded the presence of the school's owner. Launching a probe into the case, the police sought to take seven students of the hostel for questioning. However, the crowd outside impeded the police from doing so until the school owner's arrival.
The police team that was stationed there after the matter was reported, had to blank fire. Given the circumstances, reinforcements were called in to pacify the crowd and control the situation.
Apart from Lekhapani Police, the Sub-Divisional Police Officer is also at the scene and investigations are ongoing. The Sub-Divisional Judicial Magistrate said that the body had been recovered and sent for post-mortem.
The magistrate said, "Early in the morning, we got information of a St Paul's School student dying by suicide in the hostel's verandah. As magistrate, I went there and requested the body which has been sent to Tinsukia Medical College for post-mortem. We found that the arrangements at the hostel were not up to the mark and the warden was also absent."
"The police have taken the principal to Lekhapani Station for questioning. Four or five of his hostel mates have also been taken for questioning. Until the end of the investigations, the school has been sealed. We will try to complete the investigation within two to three days so that it does not hamper the other students," he added.
The matter pertains to the death of a class 10 student of St Paul's School, Udoipur under the jurisdiction of Lekhapani Police Station. The deceased has been identified as Gamrin Makat of Kumsai Gaon village in Tinsukia.
This comes a day after the family had dropped him off at the school hostel presumably after summer vacations. Early this morning, the family received a call from the school authorities that Makat had died by suicide.
However, as per sources, the body was found with both its hands and feet tied, raising questions over the cause and nature of death. The deceased's family has claimed that it is a murder and demanded a thorough probe to identify the culprit.
A member of the crowd said, "We came to know that someone from our village had died by suicide at the school. However, the body was found with its hands and feet tied. This is a pre-planned murder and we demand that those behind it be identified and action be taken against them."
He further alleged that the school authorities tried to turn the matter on its head when questioned by the mob and pointed fingers at the victims.
Meanwhile, one of the deceased's hostel roommates, who was with him hours before his death, has said that everything seemed normal, apart from the fact that Makat was keeping to himself a little more than usual.
"He was already here before I arrived. I noticed that he was not talking much so I called him to join us. He said that he was listening, but didn't talk much. I asked him whether he did his homework. He said no, and I said that mine was not complete either. I said that we will get punished by the teacher together and we laughed it off," he said.
The student added, "Then we had our dinner and we tried to complete our work. After a while, I fell asleep. Some of us were awake. However, we do not know what happened. In the morning, I was woken up by the other boys saying that Gamrin's body was found. I could not believe what I was hearing."
Several Tinsukia-based student organizations have come in support of the bereaved family claiming a complete lapse in providing security at the hostel. "This is a pre-planned murder. The family, who put their child in this school with high hopes, has been left shattered. The shocking thing is there are no wardens at the hostel. The CCTV cameras are not functioning. The management committee of the school has fled after the incident," a student leader said.