Teacher killer gets 2-yr in juvenile home

Chennai: The Juvenile Justice Board (JJB) on Wednesday ordered the detention in a correction home for two years for a 17-year-old boy who had stabbed to death his lady teacher in the school here two years ago. Class-nine student Idukkan (name changed) had killed his Hindi teacher Uma Maheswari, 41, with a knife that he had brought to school for that purpose as she had chastised him for poor performance and complained to his parents. She collapsed in a pool of blood and died almost instantly while Idukkan’s classmates at the Anglo-Indian higher secondary school fled screaming.

After examining about 40 witnesses, the JJB members, comprising chairperson S. T. Lakshmi Ramesh and members Girija Kumar and R. Isabel, told the boy they were not convicting him but only sending him to a correction home, where they expected he would reform and come out as a good human being. Idukkan had admitted during the hearing of his case that he had killed his teacher as she had made adverse remarks about him in the class and also complained to his parents.

Speaking to DC, JJB member Isabel said, “Idukkan did not react when the judgment was read out by the board. He  just listened”. The boy’s lawyer pleaded for remission of the detention but the board decided it would go by the rulebook.  “I only want that boy to reform. That’s my only desire”, said the slain teacher’s husband. Idukkan during his detention would be encouraged to get back to studies and engage in extracurricular activities.