Stephen Kayyar
Daijiworld Media Network - Kasargod

Kasargod, Jul 9: In a shocking incident, an 8-year-old boy was stabbed to death by a youth, who is said to be mentally ill, at Periya Kaliyath under Bekal police limits here on Thursday July 9.

The deceased has been identified as Mohammed Fahad (8), son of Abbas and Ayesha, residents of Periya.

Fahad

Accused Vijayan

Fahad was a third standard student of a Kaliyath government high school.

The accused Vijayan, aged about 30 years, was caught by the locals and handed over to the police.

It is said that Fahad, his younger sister Sahala and another child from the neighbourhood were walking towards their school when the incident occured. The children had to walk through a wooded, deserted spot in order to reach their school.

It is learnt that Vijayan came towards the children and tried to scare them, and all of a sudden, took out a knife and stabbed Fahad for no apparent reason. The boy died on the spot, just about 800 metres from the school.

The children began to scream and when Sahala rushed to her brother's rescue, Vijayan panicked and ran away. The locals who rushed to the spot chased Vijayan and caught him. They tied him to a tree, thrashed him and later handed him over to the Bekal police who arrested him.

Sources said that about a year ago, Vijayan had been arrested for creating frenzy by calling up the police and falsely claiming that there was a bomb on the railway track. He was arrested and released later. He was also doing some coolie work intermittently. Locals said that he is mentally ill.

Bekal police have registered a case.