Eight students held after 12-year-old Sainik School student found dead in Arunachal

Itanagar, Nov 7: Fresh allegations have surfaced over the death of a 12-year-old Class VII student of the Sainik School in East Siang district, after his sister accused senior students of subjecting him to severe bullying and torture before his death. The victim was found dead within the school premises at Niglok on November 1.

The Arunachal Pradesh Police has said eight students have been detained in connection with the case and produced before the Juvenile Justice Board in Pasighat on Tuesday.

The board, led by the Principal Magistrate, sent them to the custody of the school’s vice principal for seven days, with guardians required to furnish undertakings under the Juvenile Justice Rules.

According to the police, the case was initially registered at the Ruksin Police Station under Section 194 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, was upgraded after the cadet’s father filed an additional FIR on November 3, alleging ragging by senior students.

In a video posted on Instagram on Wednesday, the victim’s sister, Miss Arunachal 2024, Tadu Lunia, claimed the family was informed that the boy had died by suicide. However, she alleged that dormitory mates revealed a disturbing sequence of events that might have driven him to take the extreme step.

According to Lunia, the family learned from fellow cadets that on October 31 night, a group of eight Class X students and three from Class VIII allegedly entered the Class VII dormitory after 11 pm in the absence of any supervising authority.

The senior boys reportedly forced the juniors to cover their heads with blankets and singled out her brother, taking him to the Class X dormitory.

“No one knows what happened behind that closed door,” Lunia said, claiming eyewitnesses told the family that the boy was harassed mentally and physically throughout the night. She further alleged that he was branded a “thief” over a missing book and threatened with being publicly humiliated during assembly through a video recording.

In her statement, Lunia said CCTV camera footage reviewed by the investigating officer showed her brother pacing anxiously around the dormitory around 5.45 am, before entering a classroom to write what appeared to be his final note.

“His last words were, ‘Seniors tortured me a lot, and I don’t know what I will do now’,” she said.

PTI