A Class 7 cadet found dead at Sainik School, Niglok in Arunachal Pradesh’s East Siang district has sparked outrage after his sister alleged he was tortured and bullied by seniors the night before he died, contradicting the initial intimation to the family that it was a suicide, as per her video appeal on Instagram.
Tadu Lunia, Miss Arunachal 2024 and the victim’s sister, said classmates and dorm mates informed the family that a group of eight Class 10 students and three from Class 8 allegedly entered the Class 7 dormitory late on October 31 when no warden was present, forced all juniors to cover themselves with blankets, and took 12-year-old Haro away to the senior dormitory, where he was allegedly subjected to mental and physical abuse for hours, according to her account.
Lunia said eyewitnesses told the family that her brother was branded a “thief” over a missing book and threatened with public humiliation at assembly, adding that CCTV footage showed him pacing anxiously at dawn before entering a classroom, where he is believed to have written that seniors “tortured me a lot,” details echoed in multiple local reports of her statement.
Appealing for public support, Lunia urged people to stand with the family to ensure accountability, warning that such tragedies could recur without decisive action, while also alleging delays in the post-mortem and investigation by authorities in her social media statement.
Police said a case was registered for abetment to suicide and later upgraded under relevant provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita after an additional FIR from the family; eight minors have been apprehended and produced before the Juvenile Justice Board in Pasighat, and remanded to the custody of the school’s vice principal for one week as the probe continues, officials said.
Investigators added that evidence collection is ongoing and student unions have demanded a transparent, time-bound inquiry, issuing an ultimatum to authorities for a fair probe into the alleged ragging-linked death at the residential school in Niglok.
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