Jehanabad Police on Friday (10th April) arrested a canteen guard, Mukesh Kumar alias Sudama, in connection with the murder of a 5-year-old student residing at Gurukul hostel in Jehanabad, Bihar, on 6th April. According to the police, 46-year-old Kumar confessed to the crime and was remanded to judicial custody.
Earlier this month, a horrible incident of brutal sexual abuse and the killing of a child came to light in the Jehanabad district of Bihar. The child was enrolled in a Gurukul located in the Muther-Lodi Pur village in the Kadauna police station area of Jehanabad. He used to reside in the Gurukul hostel.
Five days before the incident, on 1st April, the child’s mother dropped him off at the hostel. According to the complaint submitted by the child’s father, Ajay Kumar Sharma, he received a call around 5:20 am on 6th April from hostel in-charge Gurukul, Tarun Kumar. Sharma was informed by Tarun Kumar that his son was severely ill and was admitted to a private hospital in a critical condition.
The father rushed to the hospital, where he saw his son in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) with deep wounds all over his body. The child’s throat was slit, his genitals were severed, and there were cut marks on the left side of his abdomen, cheek and under his eyebrow. On the advice of the doctor, the father shifted the child to a multi-speciality hospital in Patna, where he was declared dead.
The child was sexually assaulted and killed
After the death of the child, angry villagers blocked National Highway-22 in protest. The police arrived on the spot and tried to pacify the villagers. The body of the child was sent for a postmortem. “Following the news of the child’s death, angry villagers blocked National Highway-22 in protest. Police teams, led by the Sub-Divisional Police Officer (SDPO), reached the spot, pacified the protesters, and cleared the blockade. The body was sent to Patna Medical College and Hospital (PMCH) for postmortem examination,” Superintendent of Police Aparajit Lohan said.
An FIR was filed, based on the complaint of the child’s father, under Sections 65(2), 64(F), 70(2), and 103 of the BNS and the provisions of the POCSO Act. The doctors who treated the child said that he was sexually assaulted and stabbed with sharp objects repeatedly. The FIR named the hostel in-charge as an accused, along with other unidentified individuals. The hostel in charge was arrested and remanded to judicial custody. They also interrogated canteen guard Mukesh Kumar, who denied his involvement in the incident.
The FSL team found incriminating evidence against the canteen guard
Subsequently, an SIT was formed by the police, led by the Additional Superintendent of Police and the SDPO (Sadar), to probe the case. After a fresh forensic examination by the Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL) team and the emergence of new evidence, the SIT grew suspected Mukesh Kumar’s involvement in the incident. The evidence collected by the FSL team included bloodstains on the accused’s pillow cover and traces of blood found in a pipe from the hostel kitchen. The team also found a sharp-bladed weapon, with blood stains, near the window of the bathroom of Mukesh Kumar.
Apart from that, a CCTV footage analysis showed suspicious movement and abnormal behaviour of Mukesh Kumar, who was seen repeatedly moving between floors. When the SIT questioned Kumar, he confessed his involvement and shared other details of the crime.
The Canteen guard had threatened to do something to lead to the closure of the hostel
Addressing the media, SP Aparajit Lohan said that Mukesh Kumar was under the influence of alcohol when he committed the crime. He was observing the children in the hostel from inside his room at night. “He said that he had left his room door open and was observing the children when they moved through the toilet area after switching off the television at night,” SP Lohan said.
पुलिस अधीक्षक, जहानाबाद द्वारा कड़ौना थानांतर्गत घटित घटना का सफल उद्भेदन के संबंध में दी गई वीडियो बाईट।@bihar_police@BiharHomeDept@IgMagadh@IPRDBihar pic.twitter.com/llZctJY1il
— Jehanabad Police (@spjehanabad) April 10, 2026
The SP added that the behaviour of Mukesh Kumar was not normal. His wife had left him, and he had no children. The children in the hostel mocked and taunted him by calling him ‘impotent’, due to which he felt humiliated. He harboured resentment towards the hostel management and previously threatened the hostel in-charge, Tarun Kumar, that he would “do something that would lead to the hostel’s closure”.
Postmortem report confirmed unnatural sexual intercourse with the child
SP Lohan said that a three-member medical board conducted the post-mortem of the child. The postmortem report confirmed sexual assault and homicide. He added that the police would file a chargesheet as soon as possible and would ensure that the matter is tried speedily.
In the wake of the incident, the Jehanabad District Magistrate constituted a team to inspect private hostels across the district.
