10-year-old from Bihar murdered in Madurai; juvenile arrested

MADURAI: Much to the shock of fellow students, a ten-year-old boy was found murdered near an Urdu study centre at Kathapatti village in Melur here on Friday evening. The deceased has been identified as M Mohammed Shanawaz, a native of Purnia in Bihar.

Madurai Superintendent of Police BK Arvind said both the victim and the accused were juveniles and students of the study centre, where 11 students, mostly from Bihar, were studying. The SP said the victim was said to have spoken ill of the family of the accused, 13, from Kishanganj, Bihar. In a rage, the 13-year-old killed Shanawaz with a knife.

The accused was arrested in the wee hours of Saturday after the police found evidence. Based on a complaint, Melur police filed a case against the accused under Section 302 of IPC and remanded him in an Observation Home.

Sources said the fellow students had been searching for Shanawaz since 4.30 p.m. on Friday. It’s learnt that the accused waited for Shanawaz near a lavatory, where the murder was committed. The body was found bleeding from stab wounds to the head, mouth, right ear and on his back. To conceal the murder, the body was dumped in a septic tank near the lavatory on Friday night.

The CCTV footage revealed that Shanawaz was stabbed in his head and other body parts with a kitchen knife, leaving him dead inside the lavatory and the body dragged for dumping into the septic tank. The body has been sent to Melur GH for postmortem.

According to local sources, the centre, Gausiya Foundation, has been functioning since 2007 and currently has two teachers.