24-year-old who murdered schoolmate as minor sentenced to life

Vadodara: The children's court in Vadodara sentenced a 24-year-old man to life imprisonment for murdering a schoolmate in 2018, when he was a minor. The convict stabbed 14-year-old Dev Tadvi to death at Shri Bharti School in 2018 and fled. Wadi police had registered a case of murder and detained the convict, who was 16 years old at the time."Doctors questioned the accused and conducted psychological tests. Their assessment said his mind was like that of an adult and he could understand the consequences of his actions. He was tried in the children's court," said advocate and govt pleader P C Patel, who represented the complainant. The court also fined the convict Rs 10,000.
The prosecution argued that the convict had premeditated the killing and carried a knife and chilli powder to school. In June 2018, the body of Dev Tadvi was found in the washroom of Shri Bharti School in Baranpura. Tadvi, a Class 9 student, had joined the school only a couple of days earlier.The investigation found that the convict stabbed Tadvi 10 times, killing him. After the killing, the convict first fled to his aunt's house in the city and changed his clothes. When his father learned about the killing, he took his son to Valsad. There, the 16-year-old was apprehended by police.The convict told police he had no enmity with Tadvi. He said he was angry at a teacher for reprimanding him about his homework and had wanted to take revenge on the school. The killing shocked the school, as there were hundreds of students on the premises when it was committed.