What Happened to 12-Year-Old Haro at Sainik School Arunachal?

Transcript

00:00Miss Arunachal, 2030

00:03His last words were, Seniors tortured me a lot and I don't know what I will do now.

00:12He was only 12 years old, the same age as I was when I first held him in my arms.

00:18That's Miss Arunachal 2024, Tadu Lunia, talking about her younger brother Haro,

00:22A class 7 student at Sayanik school in Arunachal Pradesh's East Siang district,

00:30who was found dead inside the campus on November 1.

00:33The school said it was suicide, but Lunia said there was more to the story.

00:37In a video she posted on Instagram, her voice broke as she described what she had learned from Haro's class myths.

00:43I don't think any 12 years old is supposed to go through that kind of torment or torture.

00:49On October 31, she said eight class 10 students and three from class 8 had allegedly entered

00:54the junior dormitory past 11 pm. There had been no warden. The boys, she said, were told to cover

01:00themselves with blankets except Haro. He was taken to the senior's dorm and he never came back.

01:09Lunia also said her brother's dorm mates told her that the seniors had forced him to publicly admit

01:14he was a thief for taking their books without permission.

01:16He was even threatened that they're going to make a video of him and make it public next day

01:22on the morning assembly and viral on the internet that Ms Arunachal's brother does such lowly things

01:31and that is a thief. According to reports, CCTV footage showed Haro pacing around his dorm at 5.45 am

01:38before entering a classroom to write what appeared to be his final note. The family accused the school

01:43of negligence and a slow investigation. When they cross-questioned the seniors, they had to say that

01:49we were also ragged by our seniors so it is natural for us to do it to our juniors as well.

01:53On the surface, it was a story about one family's grief. But online, it became something else.

01:59A question echoing across Arunachal. How safe were children in institutions meant to build their futures?

02:05Eight students, all minors, were detained and placed under the custody of school's

02:09vice-principle for a week. The case, initially filed as abitment to suicide,

02:13was upgraded after the family complaint of ragging. Meanwhile, the investigation is still underway.

02:17I am a daughter of this state and I plead to every single person watching this to help me serve justice.