School hostel guard forces 5-year-old boy into unnatural sex, slits throat: Cops

A horrific murder case involving a five-year-old boy at a residential school hostel in Bihar’s Jehanabad has been solved following the arrest and confession of a school canteen guard. The accused, 46-year-old Mukesh, also known as Sudama, was apprehended after police recovered the sharp blade used in the crime. The investigation revealed a chilling sequence of events where the child was lured to the guard's room on Sunday night, subjected to "unnatural sex," and then brutally murdered to prevent him from raising an alarm.

According to Superintendent of Police Aprajit Lohan, the motive behind the gruesome act was a mix of personal frustration and professional spite. Mukesh, whose wife had left him years ago, was reportedly frequently taunted by children at the hostel who called him "impotent." Furthermore, the accused had an ongoing dispute with the hostel’s operator, Tarun Kumar, and had previously threatened to defame the institution to force its permanent closure. Mukesh confessed to the police that he was under the influence of alcohol when he committed the act.

The details of the child's injuries, as outlined in the First Information Report (FIR), are particularly harrowing. After the assault and murder, the boy's body was dumped on the hostel staircase. The victim's father was initially told his son was admitted to a private hospital, but upon arrival, he discovered the boy with his throat slit and severe mutilations to his genitals and abdomen. Although the child was rushed to a multi-specialty hospital in Patna for advanced care, doctors there declared him dead on arrival.

Legal action has been swift, with authorities registering a case under several stringent sections. The charges include murder, rape by a person in authority, gang rape, and relevant sections of the Prevention of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act. While the hostel operator, Tarun Kumar, was taken into custody earlier in the week, other staff members and a teacher were detained for questioning but later released after investigators determined they were not directly involved in the crime.

The recovery of the murder weapon and the formal confession have provided the police with the evidence needed to move forward with the prosecution. The community remains in shock over the brutality of the incident occurring within a supposedly safe educational environment. Local authorities have emphasized that the investigation is now focused on ensuring a watertight case against Mukesh and examining any potential negligence on the part of the school administration that allowed such an atrocity to occur.