Tribune News Service
Kurukshetra, July 18
A class-9 student of Gurukul, a boarding school, near here was found hanging from a ventilator in his hostel room on Tuesday night.
Jatin (14), a resident of Jhajjar's Majri village, had joined the boys' boarding school last year.
The body was spotted hanging with a towel. The room was found open as the hostel rooms did not have locks.
Police said prima facie it was a suicide case.
However, deceased's father Shashi Kumar disputed the police version and alleged foul play behind the unnatural death.
He has demanded an in-depth probe into the death.
"I was informed telephonically by the school authorities about Jaitn's death at 9.10 pm on Tuesday. As per the school warden, Jatin allegedly hanged himself at 6.55 pm but the school authorities swung into action at 7.55 pm. Moreover, the aggrieved family was informed quite late," Kumar said.
The father claimed that his son was good in academics and he rejoined the school on July 9 after the summer vacations.
"Last Sunday, I had a telephonic conservation with Jatin and he was normal. I have watched the CCTV footage captured from the cameras in the hostel corridor. Jatin was seen munching on snacks and entering his room at around 6.30 pm. The school authorities claim he died a few minutes later but Jatin was seen moving around and eating," claims the father at the post-mortem department at the Lok Naik Jai Prakash Civil Hospital.
President of the school management committee Kulwant Saini said the deceased appeared to be under the family pressure to stay in a hostel.
He said Jatin did not join other students during the dinner time and the body was noticed later.
"Jatin was considered an introvert. In his class 8 exams, he scored about 80 per cent marks. The untimely death very unfortunate," Saini said.
SP Abhishek Garg said post-mortem report would throw light on the cause of death of the boy. He said the movement of no other person was noticed in the CCTV footage in Jatin's room between the time he entered his room and when the body was found.
"There was no visible injury mark on his body and the circumstances did not hint at murder. But we are investigating the case minutely," said the SP.
The school was founded by the eminent Arya Samaj leader Swami Shardhananda on April 13, 1912.
Governor of Himachal Pradesh Acharya Devvart is patron the institute.