Gadag, Dec 21 (IANS): Karnataka Police have arrested a teacher who had beaten a nine-year-old student to death in the premises of the Government School of Hadli village near Nargund town in Gadag district, an official said on Wednesday.
The shocking incident took place on Saturday while the nine-year-old boy Bharath Barakeri had succumbed to injuries on Monday. His mother Geetha Barakeri, a teacher in the same school, was also attacked by the accused. She is presently being treated at a hospital and her condition is critical.
The accused teacher Muttappa Yallappa Hadagali has now been arrested. The police had formed a special team to nab the teacher, who had disappeared after the incident.
As per sources, the police suspect that the accused teacher and mother of the boy were allegedly in a relationship.
The accused teacher and Geetha had fought during a recent tour with students. Geetha had maintained distance from him since then, the sources said.
According to Gadag SP Shivaprakash Devaraju, preliminary inquiries revealed that the accused teacher had committed the crime to vent his anger on the mother of the student.
"The mother Geetha was moving closely with other staff during the school tour. This angered the accused teacher. Not being able to tolerate the closeness of Geetha with others, the accused vented out his anger on the kid and later on the mother," he said.
The exact cause behind the accused teacher's dastardly act is yet to be ascertained, the investigation is on, SP Shivaprakash Devaraju stated.
The accused had beaten Bharat Barakeri, a Class 4 student with a shovel to death.
The police had stated that after attacking the boy with a shovel, the accused teacher had thrown the boy off the first floor.
The accused had also assaulted the mother of the boy, Geetha Barakeri for questioning him. When the accused teacher started attacking the boy, he ran to his mother Geetha.
The boy was shifted to KIMS hospital in Hubballi where he succumbed to the injuries.