Odisha: Three juveniles, eight KISS teachers and staff taken into custody in student murder case

Bhubaneswar: Odisha Police have taken three juveniles and eight teachers and staff members of the Kalinga Institute of Social Sciences (KISS) in Bhubaneswar into custody in connection with the murder of a 14-year-old tribal student, a senior police officer said on Wednesday.

Commissioner of Police S Dev Datta Singh said the three juveniles, all children in conflict with law, were taken into custody for allegedly strangling the Class 9 student to death after he refused to share his bucket with them in a washroom on the night of December 11. They have been booked under Section 106(1) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and Section 75 of the Juvenile Justice Act, 2015.

Eight KISS officials, including an additional chief executive officer and two teachers, were arrested for allegedly threatening witnesses, destroying evidence and harbouring the offenders, the commissioner said.

According to police, the victim’s body was initially handed over to his father with the claim that the boy had died after accidentally falling in a toilet. However, further investigation revealed that the student was killed by a group of fellow students and that the institute authorities did not inform the police about the incident.

Post-mortem examination found external injuries on the neck, suggesting compression caused by a rough ligature material. Statements from the victim’s classmates and hostel mates also pointed to the involvement of the three juveniles, Singh said.

The case came to light after the victim’s father lodged a complaint at Keonjhar Town police station on December 13, alleging that his son had been murdered. In his complaint, he stated that on December 12 he received a call from KISS informing him that his son had been admitted to Kalinga Institute of Medical Sciences for treatment, but doctors declared the boy dead when he reached the hospital.

Following the complaint, a Zero FIR was transferred from Keonjhar Town police station to Infocity police station in Bhubaneswar, where a case of unnatural death was registered and later converted into a murder case.

Police said the juveniles have confessed to beating, throttling and strangling the victim, while the arrested teachers and staff members allegedly intimidated minor witnesses to suppress the incident.

The eight KISS officials have been booked under multiple sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, including murder, disappearance of evidence, criminal intimidation and harbouring offenders, along with provisions of the Juvenile Justice Act. While the three juveniles were produced before the Juvenile Justice Board, the eight officials were produced in court and remanded to judicial custody.

The incident sparked widespread outrage in Keonjhar district, where locals staged protests outside the collector’s office on December 13, demanding justice for the deceased student.

(with inputs from agencies)