In a shocking incident, a college student in Andhra’s Prakasam district set a class VII student on fire right in the school premises allegedly for refusing to hand over his love letter to a class X girl in the same school. The boy is battling for life with 90% injuries. The police shifted him to Guntur General Hospital after recording his dying declaration.
Both the victim and accused are minors. The police have registered a case of attempt to murder (Indian Penal Code section 307) and took the boy into custody.
The incident took place in Ardhaveedu town in Markapur division of Prakasam district on Saturday afternoon.
According to police, the victim (12 years) had his lunch and was sitting when the intermediate student (16) approached him around 1.45 pm on Saturday.
The high school and junior college are situated beside each other. The college student called the victim and asked him to hand over the love letter to a class X girl. The boy not only refused to oblige but tore off the love letter. He also reportedly threatened to take the matter to the notice of his headmaster.
In a fit of rage, the college student ran to the parking lot and took petrol from one of the bikes. He then filled it in a discarded bottle and picked up a match box. He then dragged the boy to an abandoned room in the school. He poured the kerosene on him and lit.
“The boy’s parents have lodged a complaint with us. Our preliminary enquiries established the charge on the college. We are collecting evidence,” said Ardhaveedu police sub-inspector SV Ravindra Reddy, who is investigating the case.
With the boy’s condition being critical, a local magistrate recorded his dying declaration
