Vadodara school murder: Accused tried as adult, sentenced to life imprisonment

A special children's court in Gujarat's Vadodara city sentenced a man to life imprisonment for stabbing to death his junior in school while he was a Class X student.

The incident dates back to 2018 when the victim, Dev Tadvi, was stabbed repeatedly in the head and chest by the accused, 16 and a half years old at the time, in a school in Vadodara's Baranpura area, just two days into his enrollment.

Additional sessions judge and special children's court, Shakuntala Solanki, on Thursday, held that the accused, who was lodged in the zonal observation home, was transferred to the Vadodara Central Jail in 2023 after he turned 21.

As per the prosecution, the accused had been reprimanded by a teacher two days before the incident, and, hence, he planned the murder to shut down the school and had randomly targeted the victim.

Staff, who rushed to the school's washroom on hearing screams, found Tadvi lying in a pool of blood. The accused was seen running from there with a knife.

He was subsequently booked under section 302 (murder) of the Indian Penal Code and section 135 of the Gujarat Police Act.

The trial was conducted in the special children's court, which examined 20 witnesses, including eyewitnesses and experts, and 42 pieces of documentary evidence before reaching the verdict.

The Juvenile Justice Board had ordered the trial to be conducted by considering the accused as an adult, as he understood the consequences of his actions based on his mental and physical status, the court noted.

He had pre-planned the murder and carried pepper powder and a knife as part of his preparation, showing his mental capacity to carry out such a crime, the court said.

The court, in its verdict, observed that the nature of the crime showed clear intent, awareness, and understanding of consequences.