Student who killed schoolmate sentenced to life imprisonment

Vadodara: A special children 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 years and 6 months old at the time, in a school in Vadodara’s Baranpura area that the deceased had joined two days ago.

The court of additional sessions judge and special children court Shakuntala Solanki delivered the verdict on Thursday.

The accused, who was held at the zonal observation home, was transferred to Vadodara Central Jail in 2023 after he turned 21 years of age.

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, randomly targeting the victim.

Staff who rushed to school washroom hearing screams found Tadvi lying in a pool of blood. The accused was seen running from there with a knife. He was held some time later under under section 302 (murder) of Indian penal Code and section 135 of Gujarat Police Act.

The trial was conducted at the special children court, which examined 20 witnesses, including eye witnesses and experts, and 42 documentary evidence before reaching the verdict.

The Juvenile Justice Board had ordered the trial to be conducted by considering him an adult as the accused understood the consequences of his action 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 observed in its verdict that the nature of the crime showed clear intent, awareness, and understanding of consequences.