Panchkula: An eight-year-old Class 3 student allegedly mounted a brutal attack on a kindergarten girl inside a government school classroom in Panchkula, beating her with kicks and punches before striking her repeatedly with a brick. The victim sustained critical head injuries and remained unconscious for nearly 36 hours before waking at the Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education and Research in Chandigarh. The assault came to light only after the girl’s auto-rickshaw driver reached the school premises to pick her up and found her missing from the designated boarding point. The boy who carried out the assault later directed the girl’s uncle to the exact spot where she lay severely injured. Following the incident, the Education Department constituted an inquiry committee, while the local police initiated a thorough probe into the minor’s conduct and family environment.
Classroom CCTV captures three-minute assault
Security camera footage spanning three minutes and fifteen seconds documented the violent confrontation inside the classroom. In the video, the third-standard student is seen slamming the younger girl’s head against a wooden desk before raining punches and kicks upon her. He then dragged her across the classroom floor by her hair and retrieved a loose brick, landing several heavy blows directly on her head until she collapsed into unconsciousness. The footage surfaced widely on local social media channels, triggering widespread concern among parents and local residents over institutional security measures. Family members recounted that the child had developed a strong addiction to the online battle game Free Fire on his mobile phone. His parents had seized the smartphone approximately six weeks prior to the classroom assault after noticing growing behavioural shifts and recurring anger issues.
School management booked and two teachers suspended
Police authorities initiated formal legal steps following the emergence of the assault footage, questioning the administration of the government school alongside the parents of the eight-year-old boy. An FIR was registered against the school management for gross negligence and failure to maintain basic safety standards for students within the premises. Meanwhile, the district education administration placed the class teachers of both students under immediate suspension pending the completion of a departmental review. The police stated that investigators are currently mapping the child’s daily domestic life, personal temperament, and exposure to screen violence. Detectives are also examining why no school staff, teachers, or security attendants were present in the corridor or classroom during the extended duration of the assault, and why the wounded student remained completely undetected until an external vehicle operator arrived to collect her.
Impact of violent games under scrutiny
The brutal episode has focused attention on the risks posed by early exposure to violent mobile video games among young school-going children. Mental health professionals and child development experts observe that regular exposure to titles centred on firearm shootouts and tactical elimination can erode sensitivity and dull basic social empathy in developing minds. Children frequently habituate to simulated hostility and conflict loops within such games, which often translates into real-world aggression, fierce disputes with classmates, emotional volatility, and a loss of personal restraint. The ongoing inquiry in Panchkula seeks to ascertain the degree to which intense withdrawal symptoms from restricted mobile screen time influenced the boy’s extreme conduct against the younger student.
