15-yr-old Chennai boy stabs teacher to death in classroom

Chennai, February 9: A class 9 boy of St Mary's Anglo Indian Higher Secondary School stabbed his teacher to death in a classroom on Thursday morning. He later told police that he was angry at her for scolding him.

Shock and fear gripped the school on Armenian Street in Parrys as 15-year-old Mohammed Irfan, son of a daily labourer, repeatedly stabbed his science teacher Uma Maheswari (42) in the neck and face. Maheswari was sitting in another class on the first floor of a three-storey school building when Irfan stormed in with a knife around 10.30am.

"He stabbed her first in the neck," said an eyewitness, "and inflicted cut injuries again on her cheek and neck. She died on the spot." When the other students cried out loud, Irfan threatened them and ran out, but was caught by teachers and students, the witness said. He was handed over to police.

"The boy came with a knife wrapped in a paper," a policeman investigating the case said. "He said he was angry because the teacher scolded him. We don't know yet if there is any other reason."

Irfan's schoolmates said he was not an aggressive child, but was quite aloof. "He never used to mingle with others," a student said.