Chennai, Feb 11 (IANS): A Class 9 student who was assaulted by his classmate inside their school bus in Salem’s Edappadi passed away on Tuesday.

The police have filed a case against the accused schoolboy and an enquiry is underway.

According to Salem police, the deceased boy has been identified as Saravanan (14), the son of a railway employee in Edappadi’s Vellandivalasu area.

The classmate who has been accused of perpetrating the grievous attack is also from the same neighbourhood.

On Monday evening, Saravanan was returning home from school in the bus when an argument broke out between the two just as their school bus was approaching Vellandivalasu.

The two boys came to blows and Saravanan collapsed and fainted after bring hit.

Students and bystanders rushed him to a nearby private hospital. The doctors who examined Saravanan stated that his condition was critical and he was admitted to the intensive care unit of a private hospital in Salem for further treatment. However, he passed away in the early hours of Tuesday.

The Edappadi police, who registered a case based on a complaint filed by the deceased student's parents, have brought the accused 14-year-old boy to the police station and are conducting an enquiry into the tragic incident.

Meanwhile, in another issue related to school students in Tamil Nadu, the abuse of students by teachers has become a major issue in the state.

In a sexual abuse case on February 7, Tamil Nadu police have arrested a science teacher at a government school in Yercaud, Salem, for sexually abusing ten girl students.

The accused, Ilayakannu (37), was arrested by Yercaud police on Friday night and charged under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offenses (POCSO) Act.

Ilayakannu, who taught science to students in classes 10 and 12, allegedly assaulted ten girls. The incident came to light when one of the victims gathered the courage to inform the school’s headmistress and demanded action against the teacher.

The headmistress immediately reported the matter to officials of the education department and the District Child Protection Unit.

Following this, a probe team visited the school and conducted an investigation and spoke to the students.

Preliminary enquiries confirmed that the teacher had abused ten students.

Based on the complaint filed by the District Child Protection Unit, the Kondalampatti All Women’s Police Station registered a case under the POCSO Act and arrested Ilayakannu. Further investigations are underway.

In a similar incident in Krishnagiri District a few days earlier, three government schoolteachers were arrested for sexually assaulting a 13-year-old girl at Panchayat Union Middle School in Bargur, Krishnagiri district.

The crime, which occurred in early January, only came to light on February 3 when schoolteachers visited the girl’s home to enquire about her prolonged absence.

During their visit, the girl disclosed the sexual assault, which reportedly occurred inside a toilet on the school campus.

Following her revelation, the school’s headmistress and the block education officer filed a complaint, leading to the arrest of the three accused teachers on February 4.