12-yr-old held for death of classmate at school

The Delhi Police on Wednesday said it apprehended a 12-year-old student of a Vasant Vihar private school for allegedly "pushing and strangulating" a classmate, who died in hospital hours after the fight on Tuesday, triggering protests from his parents who accused the institution of negligence.

- Varun Bhandari

Police said the boy, a Class 6 student of Chinmaya Vidyalaya, was apprehended from his home in Munirka and booked under Section 105 (culpable homicide not amounting to murder) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS).

CCTV footage between 8am and 8.30am ostensibly showed him pushing the victim, Prince, against the wall, hitting him and strangulating him, said police.

"We scanned multiple CCTV cameras and found that Prince got into a fight with a boy of his age near the classroom door... The two started fighting after their shoulders brushed. The boy strangled Prince. We found that a boy tried to intervene, but went away soon. The suspect then pushed Prince against the wall while hitting him and strangulating him," a senior officer said. "We suspect the fight caused his death since he collapsed minutes later."

The CCTV footage analysed showed the scuffle, but not Prince collapsing, the officer added.

The school staff rushed Prince to hospital at 9.30am. He was declared dead an hour later.