13 August,2014 07:14 AM IST | | Shreya Bhandary
It’s been 2 weeks since the 14-year-old boy accused of slashing his senior with a blade in a Malad (East) school was released from the Dongri remand home; with his school refusing to take him back, his parents are worried about his future
For the past two weeks, a pall of gloom hangs over the home of a 14-year-old boy in Malad (East). The boy, who is the youngest child in the family, is now a murder accused, having allegedly slashed his senior with a blade, three weeks ago.
On July 21, the 14-year-old Std VIII student was accused of using a blade to slash the neck of his senior from Standard X of the same school
"My son can be mischievous sometimes, but he can never harm anyone. He kept insisting that he did not slash the other boy. He says he only pushed him and the other boy scraped himself on a piece of metal while falling, which caused the injury. And still they are calling my son a murderer," said the teenager's mother.
Ever since their son returned home, the family has not managed to resume their routine life. "My son stopped going out, because he used to be ridiculed; neither has his mother stepped out of the house. My older son and I work, so we have to venture out, but this incident has ruined everything for us," added his father.
On July 21, the 14-yr-old Std VIII student was accused of using a blade to slash the neck of his senior from Standard X of the same school (âVengeful teenager slashes teenager's neck with a blade,' July 22). While the victim was rushed to a nearby hospital, the accused student was booked for attempt to murder and sent to the Dongri remand home, and released on bail soon after.
"We tried asking the school if he could return, but the authorities didn't allow it. No other school in the area is ready to admit him. We finally secured admissions to a boarding school in Bharuch, but we will first try our best to admit him to a Mumbai school. If it doesn't work out, we will have no option but to send him to Bharuch," said Salim Mohammed, the boy's uncle.
The student is living with his uncle in Mira Road these days. With no hope of continuing his education in the same school, the family has requested authorities to give them a school-leaving certificate. "My son has not spoken much to anybody after this incident. He stays indoors and refuses to talk. He keeps insisting that he didn't try to kill anyone. I don't know how else to help him," said his father.
The family has also moved out of their home in Kol Dongri to another area in Malad (East). The accused child's mother is waiting to undergo a cataract surgery soon. Their older son works in a garment shop in a mall in Malad. While the family is still coming to terms with the matter, the 16-year-old victim's family says they will never forget the incident.
Though the boy has started attending school after being discharged from hospital, they are worried that he might still be in danger. "We've heard that the accused has got bail and is now free. Even the school has not taken any action against him, other than giving him a school-leaving certificate.
I will meet the school principal soon and demand that he take stricter action against the accused, so as to make sure that no other kid in any other school even thinks of endangering someone else's life again," said Suresh Shukla, father of the victim, who is in Std X of the same school.
