On Friday morning, like any other day, Varun Thakur dropped his children Pradhuman and Vidhi at the Ryan International School in Gurugram. The seven-year-old boy asked his elder sister to rush to the classroom as she had her exam. Thakur was good at studies and even better at hosting cultural functions. “He was very happy these days. His class teacher had praised him for compering the Teacher’s Day function,” his mother Sushma Thakur told Newslaundry. “Teacher had asked Pradhuman to prepare for the Hindi Diwas function.” She took a pause added, “Humko bola tha acchi lines likh dijiyega Hindi Diwas ke liye. Wo taiyari karta (He had asked me to write good lines for the Hindi Diwas. He would have prepared for it,)” she broke down in tears before she could complete the sentence. For them, the world has ended today.

Barely 10 minutes after his father Varun had dropped Pradhuman in the school, he was found in a pool of blood in the school washroom. His throat was slit and the knife used was still lying there.

Around 7.50 in the morning, Varun dropped Pradhuman and his 11-year-old daughter Vidhi at the gate of the school, located in Bhondsi on Sohna Road, Gurugram. As Varun left for his house more than a km away, both Pradhuman and Vidhi went towards the academic block. At 8.05 am, Varun’s wife Sushma Thakur received a call from the school landline. They were informed that Pradhuman was found injured and was bleeding profusely. Students who had seen him struggling and trying to crawl out of the washroom had alerted the teachers.

The school management rushed him to the hospital. “We reacted promptly. We informed the parents and the police as soon as we got to know about the incident,” Niraja Batra, the officiating principal of the school, told Newslaundry. “We didn’t waste time in investigating the matter. We handed over the CCTV footage to the police.” The first stop was a nearby hospital in Badshahpur. Even before Varun and Sushma could reach that hospital, the school officials asked them to come directly to Artemis Hospital in Sector 52.

Recalling the disaster, Sushma told Newslaundry, “Humko yahi samjh thi ki mera bacha gir gaya hai aur usse chot aayi hai (We thought that he might have fallen, and was injured.)” When the Thakurs reached the hospital, they were directed towards the ICU. Pradhuman was declared dead by then.

On usual days this was time for the morning assembly, but the exam was going on the prayers were being conducted on the PA system. “Didi tumhara paper hai, tum jao. Ussi jagah se dono alag -alag direction mein gaye. Uske baad kya hua -kisne kya kiya nahi pata (He told his sister that you should go to the classroom as you have your exam. They parted ways here.),” Sushma said. Vidhi studies in Class 5, while Pradhuman was in Class 2. Varun, who works as a quality manager with Orient Craft is originally from Bihar’s Madhubani district. They had constructed the flat in Shyam Kunj area – barely three years back.

The exams were being conducted for students of Class 3 to 10. Instead of going to the classroom, Thakur went to the washroom. This would be around 8 am in the morning.

Ashok Kumar, 42, one of the bus conductors was also present in the washroom. Pradhuman was alone, and the predator took it as an opportunity to sexually abuse him. When the boy resisted and shouted, Kumar panicked and thought he might get caught.

“It was just a chance that he came to the toilet and Ashok tried to sexually assault him. Since the boy resisted, he murdered him,” said Deputy Commissioner of Police Simardeep Singh, who is officiating as Gurgaon Commissioner.

There were two slit marks on his neck. The FIR accessed stated that there was a long and deep cut mark from his ear to throat.

Earlier in the day, as the news of Pradhuman’s murder spread first on WhatsApp groups of parents and later through media, hundreds of locals surrounded the school. The angry mob broke the glasses of award display racks, overturned the chairs and parts of the academic block was damaged. Fearing violence, the police provided security to the school and the mob was assured that the case will be investigated swiftly.

The high and mighty management of the school don’t enjoy a good reputation in the locality. Ryan has been in controversy in the past too. In January 2016, Devansh Kakrora, 6, of the Vasant Kunj branch had died after he allegedly fell into a water tank.

Bhondsi Police Station SHO Narendra Singh kept assuring the crowd that the case will be solved by 8 in the morning. The gates remained closed and media personnel were stuck inside. Around 6 pm, the media personnel found themselves in a fix – whether to stay in or step out. One could hear,“Bus mein aag laga do, humme andar aane do school ko hum dekh lenge (Set the bus on fire. Let us enter the school, we will take care of the school.)”

Somehow, the crowd agreed and decided to take out a candle march from the school to Pradhuman’s house – displaying solidarity.

By then, the police had already zeroed down three – including Kumar. Based on CCTV footage, the case was solved. “We were reconstructing the scene of the crime. We had detained a few people and were questioning them,” DCP Singh told Newslaundry. “We studied some CCTV footage and other evidence, and based on these evidence.” During questioning, Kumar accepted that he murdered the child. He is a resident of Ghamroj village and had joined the school eight months ago. Kumar was married and has two children, the police said. The Gurugram Police which had cracked the case within 10 hours of the crime is now investigating the criminal antecedents of Kumar.

While the main accused has been arrested, the police is looking into – whether the school had also committed criminal negligence. The questions were being asked whether proper police verification of Kumar was done before hiring him.

Pradhuman’s cold-blooded murder has shaken the capital and if any place is safe?