Death of Pradyuman Thakur

On 8 September 2017, seven-year-old Pradyuman Thakur, a student at Ryan International School in Gurugram, Haryana, was found bleeding from two neck wounds outside a washroom near his classroom. He had been dropped at school by his father, Barun Chandra Thakur, at 7:55 a.m., and staff were alerted to his injuries at 8:08 a.m. He was taken first to a nearby hospital and then to Artemis Hospital in Gurugram, where he was declared dead on arrival.

The Haryana Police arrived at the school around 11:30 a.m. and, citing bloodstains on his shirt and CCTV footage, arrested school bus conductor Ashok Kumar the same day. Police alleged Kumar had attempted to sexually assault Pradyuman and then attacked him with a knife found at the scene, and said Kumar had confessed in custody. This account drew public doubt, including from Pradyuman's mother. Witnesses, including bus driver Saurabh Raghav and school gardener Harpal Singh, later said they had been pressured or assaulted by police to support the case against Kumar. A medical examination ruled out sexual assault, and Kumar said he confessed only after being denied food and physically abused in custody.

Following a petition by Pradyuman's parents to the Supreme Court, the case was transferred to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on 15 September 2017. The CBI's forensic review identified a different knife as the murder weapon, found no forensic match linking Kumar to the crime, and could not confirm the Haryana Police's earlier claim of a semen sample. The CBI cleared Kumar, who was granted bail on 22 November 2017 and formally acquitted by a special court on 28 February 2018. In January 2021, the CBI charged four Gurugram police officers with framing Kumar, including offences related to falsifying documents, torture, and criminal conspiracy; as of November 2021 they had not been arrested on these charges.

On 7 November 2017, the CBI arrested an unnamed 16-year-old student from the same school in connection with the murder, citing CCTV footage, cellphone records, and forensic evidence, and stating the student had confessed in the presence of his father and a welfare officer. The CBI suggested a motive related to avoiding a scheduled exam and parent-teacher meeting. The student's father has accused the CBI of coercing a false confession. The Juvenile Justice Board ruled in December 2017 that the student would be tried as an adult; this was contested through the Punjab and Haryana High Court and the Supreme Court, which stayed proceedings pending a decision on juvenile status. As of the available reporting, trial proceedings had not begun, and the accused was granted interim bail by the Supreme Court in October 2022.

Separately, school founders and officials, including Augustine Pinto, Grace Pinto, and Ryan Pinto, were investigated for alleged negligence in school security, including a collapsed boundary wall and non-functional CCTV cameras; they were ultimately granted bail by the Supreme Court, which described the proceedings against them as a "media trial." The case prompted government reviews of school safety and revised safety guidelines in India.