The Panchkula school assault that left a six-year-old girl seriously injured has exposed multiple alleged failures in classroom supervision, access control and emergency response at a government school in Sector 20. Police said a Class III student allegedly attacked the KG student with a brick being used as a classroom doorstop, while a security guard allegedly locked the injured child inside the room afterwards.
The incident came to light when an auto-rickshaw driver who routinely transports students told the girl’s family that she had not reached the designated pick-up point at dispersal time. Her father went to the school and searched for her before she was found bleeding and critically injured in a first-floor classroom used by Classes XI and XII.
According to police, the classroom was vacant because the senior students’ shift had ended. Investigators said the boy allegedly lured the girl there and attacked her with a brick and a dustbin. CCTV footage allegedly showed him dragging her by the hair, banging her against a bench and kicking her in the face. Police said the brick had been kept near the door as a makeshift device to hold it open.
The security response is also under investigation. Police said the guard allegedly shut and locked the classroom after the assault without checking whether anyone was inside. A police officer told the Times of India that the girl might have remained there much longer had the boy not disclosed her location and investigators not reviewed CCTV footage. The officer said the lapse could have further endangered her health.
Police said the boy initially told the girl’s family that other students had attacked her. After CCTV footage was reviewed and he was questioned again, he allegedly admitted to the assault and claimed that the girl used to tease him. The girl was taken to the Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education and Research, Chandigarh, where she was reported to be recovering well.
The boy was produced before the Juvenile Justice Board in Panchkula on Saturday and sent to the Observation Home in Ambala. Police said a brain-mapping test would be conducted again at PGIMER on Monday and that further legal action would depend on the findings of his mental-health evaluation. Investigators are also examining whether exposure to violent gaming may have influenced his conduct, while his parents are being questioned.
The Haryana education department suspended the school principal on Sunday, with her headquarters during the suspension period placed at the office of the District Education Officer in Ambala. Two teachers had already been suspended on Saturday. Police said no arrests had been made in the first information report registered against the school management at the time of the report, and that further action would follow the investigation.
The case places attention on basic school-safety procedures: supervision of younger children, access to vacant classrooms, removal of improvised objects that can become weapons, CCTV monitoring and the requirement to check rooms before they are locked. The police investigation and the department’s action will determine individual accountability and whether additional administrative measures are ordered.
