Hathras Horror: Class 2 Boy Killed as 'Sacrifice' for School's Success; 5 Including Owner Held

Hathras: In a heartbreaking incident, a Class 2 student was allegedly killed as part of a sacrificial ritual performed by the owners of his school in Uttar Pradesh's Hathras to make it more prosperous. Soon after the incident came to light, police have arrested 5 people inlcuding the owner and director of the school, the principal and two teachers for their alleged involvement in the incident.

DL Public School owner Jasodhan Singh, who is said to believe in 'tantrik rituals', asked his son Dinesh Baghel, the director of the school, to sacrifice a child for the prosperity of the school and his family. Principal Laxman Singh and two teachers -- Ramprakash Solanki and Veerpal Singh -- have also been held by police. Police has lodged an FIR against them under the section 103 (1) of Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita 2023, against five of them and they have been sent to jail.

Postmortem Reveals Strangulation

Police said the postmortem report of the 11-year-old child revealed that he died due to strangulation.  "The student has been identified as Kritarth (11) studying in class second of the DL Public School," said Ashok Kumar Singh, Additional Superintendent of Police (ASP), Hathras.

"On September 23, 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," he said.

They took the student to a secluded place for the sacrifice but the student woke up and began crying, the officer said.

"After that he was strangulated. Another teacher Veerpal Singh and school principal Laxman Singh were also present at the spot and were guarding the place," he said.

ASP Singh said, "On 23rd September, a student was murdered at the hostel of DL Public School under Sahpau PS. A case was registered under relevant sections on the basis of the statement of complainant.  Five accused, including the owner of the school, have been arrested. They have been sent to judicial custody.  Police will take action by investigating all angles."

Police further said that the accused told the child's parents that Kritarth was not well as was being taken to a hospital in Baghel's car. Family members of the child, however, stopped the car and informed police about Kritarth's death, police said.

Later, postmortem report showed that he died due to strangulation. In the police investigation, the accused informed police that the student was killed for 'sacrifice' for the prosperity of school and the owner's family," the ASP said.

The victim student's grandfather, Mann Singh said, “He was killed by strangling. When we reached the incident spot, they (the accused) ran away with the child. We caught them in Agra with the child and the school bag.”

A  member of the Uttar Pradesh State Commission for Protection of Child Rights (SCPCR), Anita Agarwal condemned the incident and said, "This is a heinous incident. We will take action in this matter. I will recommend to the State Administration to de-recognise this school."