Just-feted high school student stabbed to death by three friends

Bengaluru, Feb 28: A tenth standard student was walking home with a prize and a garland when he was stabbed to death by three friends here on Monday. Harsharaj (16), a student of the Government High School, Yelahanka, had just been honoured at the school annual day for excelling in sports.

The friends surrounded him near the railway track in Gandhinagar, just 200 metres from the school, at 3 pm. They picked a fight and attacked him with a dagger.

He fell and started bleeding profusely from his chest and abdomen. The assailants fled, Deputy Commissioner of Police Labhu Ram said. Some onlookers shifted Harsharaj to a government hospital, but it was too late.

“He was an average student, but was dignified in his conduct. He wanted to be a sportsman and was concentrating on volleyball,” Vivekananda, vice-principal of the school, said.

Harsharaj had been missing classes over the past few months, and the staff had told his parents about his poor attendance, Vivekananda said.

Swift detention

Police detained two suspects within three hours of the murder. “Both are minors, and have sustained injuries in the attack. They are being treated at a hospital,” Ram said.

Initial investigations suggest the fight was over a girl, police said. The third accused is still at large. The three accused were old students of the school. One of them is now a first year student at the Government PU College on the same campus. The other two quit and joined another school a year ago, police said.

Leelavathi, chairperson, School Development and Monitoring Committee, described Harsharaj as a “good boy”. His parents were in shock and refused to speak to the media.