Class IX girl stabbed at Pune school over social media video row; 14-year-old boy detained

PUNE: A Class IX student of a private school in Balewadi suffered multiple injuries when a classmate from another section allegedly stabbed her with a knife outside a classroom on Friday afternoon, police said. The girl is recovering in a hospital and police have detained the assailant, a boy also aged 14.“The girl sustained injuries to her face and chest. She is stable and out of danger. We are in the process of registering an FIR for attempt to murder,” deputy commissioner of police (Zone II) Pradip Jadhav of Pimpri Chinchwad police told TOI.“The dispute stemmed from the boy posting videos on social media of some girl students dancing during a recent school picnic. Following arguments with other students, he was forced to delete the videos. Holding a grudge over the incident, the boy attacked the girl,” assistant commissioner of police (Pimpri Chinchwad) Vitthal Kubade told TOI. He said the girl’s father was in Mumbai and reached the hospital in evening.Authorities of the English-medium school said the boy was expelled following the incident that occurred after school hours. They said the injured student was provided first aid in the school and then taken to the hospital in Baner. “The boy suddenly attacked the girl, without any prior altercation between them. The girl has been in the school since kindergarten. The boy had taken admission in the school last year,” a school official told TOI.“There was a dispute between the children during a trip last week. The boy had who attacked the girl had clicked her pictures without her consent, and there was a confrontation. The issue was resolved there with teachers intervening and apologies were exchanged,” the school official said.“We are aware of and deeply saddened by the incident that occurred on our campus on Friday involving two students. Right now, we are focused on the students and their families, and our immediate priority is their health, safety and well-being,” the school said in a statement.“Our on-campus counsellors are providing support to students. The school has also taken strict disciplinary action against the student responsible, who has been expelled in accordance with the school’s disciplinary procedures,” the statement added.School authorities said they were strengthening campus safety measures, such as strict checking of bags of all senior students, with immediate effect to avert similar incidents and ensure a safe learning environment.Senior police inspector Arvind Pawar of Bavdhan police said the girl in her statement said the school had organised a picnic to Mahabaleshwar and Panchgani on Oct 17 and 18. “During the picnic, the boy had recorded videos of some girls from the school dancing and uploaded them on his social media page. On learning about the videos, some students forced the boy to delete them,” he said.