Gujarat: School teacher accused of stabbing principal to death found dead

On Sunday, police recovered his body from a 100-foot-deep well about one-and-a-half kilometres from Ramdevnagar and registered a case of accidental death. Bharat was to get married on December 9 and his alleged death by suicide is under investigation, police said.

BODY OF a 25-year-old teacher was recovered from a well in Naswadi taluka of Chhota Udepur district Sunday just two days after he was booked for the murder of a school principal, police said.

According to police, Bharat Pithya was “absconding” after he allegedly stabbed to death Meraman Pithya (28), his neighbour and the principal of Linda Model School at Ramdevnagar village, on December 4. Police had booked Bharat on charges of culpable homicide amounting to murder and had begun a search to track him.

On Sunday, police recovered his body from a 100-foot-deep well about one-and-a-half kilometres from Ramdevnagar and registered a case of accidental death. Bharat was to get married on December 9 and his alleged death by suicide is under investigation, police said.

Deputy Superintendent of Police, AV Katkad, said, “Probe is on to ascertain the motive behind the crimes. We have recorded the statement of Meraman’s wife. She has told police said the families of both the deceased were known to each other and were distant relatives from Junagadh. She denied any enmity between Bharat and Meraman. We are now waiting for Bharat’s autopsy reports to ascertain the cause and time of death.”

Their neighbours, however, have told police the two men had a fight on December 4 morning. An officer of Naswadi police station said the police are investigating if the Meraman’s murder was a fall out of sudden provocation.

“Their neighbours have told us that they did not see Bharat storm into Meraman’s house around 6.30 am, as claimed by the latter’s wife. The injuries on Meraman’s chest, neck and head indicated that he had been stabbed multiple times, with a lot of force and rage. While we do not have any evidence yet and are awaiting forensic reports, but we have reasons to believe that the crime may have occurred earlier and not at 6.30 am. The two men had gone out together December 3 night to fetch milk and were cordial to each other, their neighbours have claimed. So, we are inclined to believe that it could be a crime of passion,” the officer said.

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