DHARAN, Nov 18: A boy on his way to school Thursday morning has been found brutally murdered in a local park.
Raj Acharya, 9, had left home at Pragati Marga, Dharan-16 for Sagarmatha Residential Boarding School in Dharan-11. He was found dead in the park within Hariyali Community Forest just before noon.[break]
The third grader´s right temple has been gashed, the face is swollen and the school dress stuffed into the mouth to gag him. Police learnt of the murder around 11.30 a.m. after a youth who was wandering in the park saw the body and alerted the watchman. Police said the murder may have taken place around 11.
The body was identified only around 2.30 p.m. as the face had been much ravaged. The school dress resembled those of around five different schools and the principals of those schools could not identify the body.
Mom had not escorted him
The boy´s mother Anju has been devastated by the loss of her only son and relatives are struggling to calm her. The father is working in Dubai and was scheduled to fly home on December 4.
Anju used to escort her son to school every day but had sent him along with his two friends on Thursday. “She used to take him to school every day. She sent him with friends today and this is what has happened,” the boy´s uncle, Bhupal Dhakal, said, adding that the family had no animosity with anyone as the father was away and the mother was on good terms with neighbors.
Principal of Sagarmatha School Prem Dhungel said the boy did not reach school. “We checked the attendance record after learning that the was a student of ours; he had been marked absent,” Dhungel stated. “The friends who were with him said he went away with a youth toward the east from Annapurna Chowk near the school,” Dhungel added.
Dev Chandra Rai, who first saw the body, said he went to the spot after he saw a youth moving toward a bush and returning several times. “The youth fled when I went to see what was in the bush. I informed the watchman after I saw the body with clothing shoved into the mouth,” Rai disclosed. “The youth escaped on a tempo when we gave chase,” watchman Man Bahadur Rai said.
One arrested
Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Deepak Regmi said that according to the statement of a youth of around 16 who has been arrested, four persons were involved in the murder. Police ruled out the hand of professional criminals and described it as the work of youths of around 17 or 18.
DSP Regmi said the murder was carried out as a plan to take the boy to a safe place and seek ransom went wrong.
“It has been found that the murder was carried out for money. The abductors planned to demand ransom after taking the boy to a safe place. They killed him in a panic after they couldn´t transfer him,” he elaborated. He refused to disclose the name of the arrested youth, saying the other culprits may abscond if he is named.