After social media hype, a mystery shrouded in Rajasthan whether a school headmaster beat up an 8-year-old boy, who died yesterday after a 23 days treatment, for allegedly taking a glass of water from his (teacher) earthen pitcher or for behaving mischievously in his class on July 20.

The schoolboy Indra Kumar Meghwal who was beaten up by the class teacher-cum-headmaster last month on July 20 at Sayala village of Jalore district succumbed to his ear and eyes’ injuries at a hospital in Ahmedabad on Saturday. Since the boy was injured he was not in a situation to speak a word and was living a sub-conscious life during treatment from the village hospital to the district hospital and then finally at the Ahmedabad hospital.

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The accused teacher Chail Singh, 40 years, was arrested under section 302 of IPC for murder and various sections of Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe Acts (SC/ST) after the deceased boy’s uncle filed an FIR against the teacher with the Sayala Police Station, the Superintendent of Police-Jalore district Harsh Vardhan Agarwalla told SNS when contacted.

The complainant has alleged that the teacher thrashed and beaten up the Dalit boy Indra who shared drinking water from his (teacher) pitcher without any permission.

In his two tweets, last night Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot said, “The death of a student due to assault by a teacher in a private school in the Sayla police station area of Jalore is tragic. An arrest has been made against the accused teacher by registering a case under sections of the murder and SC/ST Act”.

“The case has been taken up under the Case Officer Scheme for speedy investigation of the case and speedy punishment to the guilty. Justice will be ensured to the victim’s family at the earliest. An assistance amount of Rs 5 lakh will be given to the kin of the deceased from the Chief Minister’s Relief Fund”, Gehlot said.

During interrogation the accused teacher justified that he did slap the boy for doing mischief activities and noise in the class but not for taking the water from his separate pitcher, the SP said, adding that even the other students of his 3rd class denied such water drinking move.

“There has been a separate water tank and a better drinking facility in the school, and prima facie it appears the victim boy and the teacher had some arguments on a subject in which the boy was slapped at his ear and head”, SP said.

The accused would be produced before a concerned court later in the evening for police remand. The case would be taken up by a competent officer in the court to expedite it at the earliest, according to the SP.

There are some media reports that the accused and the victim’s relatives had a compromising deal on the case hence the police were not informed. Though the police did approach the victim’s parents for a case they did not show any interest, the SP said when asked why the police were not aware of the incident in the last 23 days.