5 days Ago By TNM Staff
In a disturbing incident in Tamil Nadu’s Tirunelveli district, a Class 8 student was attacked with a machete by his classmate over an old dispute involving a pencil. Police are probing the reasons for the ghastly attack. The incident occurred on Tuesday morning within the premises of a matriculation higher secondary school in Palayamkottai.
The class teacher Revathi (44) who attempted to save the victim was also injured in the attack, police said. Police said the injured student and the teacher are out of danger and are currently receiving treatment at a private hospital. According to officials, the attack was the culmination of tensions that had reportedly been simmering for nearly two months.
The two 14-year-old students had been quarreling over a pencil one of them had borrowed and allegedly failed to return. The conflict turned violent around 10 am on April 15, when the accused smuggled a machete into the school in his bag and attacked his classmate. The victim sustained multiple injuries on the head, shoulder, and hands.
The class teacher suffered cuts on her hands while trying to stop the attacker. Following the attack, the suspect walked to the Palayamkottai police station—located just 200 meters from the school—and surrendered along with the weapon. The police have referred the boy to the Child Welfare Committee (CWC), and the Juvenile Justice Board has taken up the matter.
Deputy Commissioner of Police (Tirunelveli East) Vinodh Shantharam and Palayamkottai Inspector Thillai Nagarajan visited the school and initiated a formal investigation. While the immediate cause appears to be a prolonged argument over a borrowed pencil, the school suggested the possibility of other underlying factors, including a possible interpersonal dispute involving a group of students. Tamil Nadu BJP president Nainar Nagendran called it symptomatic of a broader breakdown in law and order in the state.
“It is very dangerous that under the chaotic rule of Mr. @mkstalin. Murders, robberies, sexual crimes and caste-based attacks are on the rise every day.
The law and order situation in Tamil Nadu has deteriorated to the point where even school children are carrying deadly weapons,” Nagendran posted on X. He added, “Violence has taken root in the minds of our children to the point of them hiding a sickle in a school bag and attacking a fellow student over a pencil..
