Bengaluru schoolgirl shot dead in hostel

Gautami was shot when she was asleep.

In a shocking incident that brought to the fore both safety on school premises and the easy availability of illegal firearms in the city, Gautami, a 17-year-old student, was shot dead in her hostel room at a residential school by a school attendant on Tuesday night.

Mahesh K, 38, later shot at and injured another girl in the hostel with his 9-mm calibre country pistol before escaping. He was nabbed by the police on Wednesday afternoon, and he had allegedly shot the girls because they complained about his behaviour to the management.

The police said Gautami, hailing from Pavagada in Tumkuru, was aspiring to become a doctor and was preparing for the common entrance examination. The injured student, Shirisha, also hailing from the same area, is being treated at a private hospital here.

The incident took place around 10.30 p.m. on Tuesday at the Pragathi PU College, which also has a hostel on its premises in Kadugodi, near Whitefield.

Police sources said Mahesh, an errand boy at the hostel, barged into the hostel room on the third floor while the victim was sleeping. “He shot her twice at point blank range with a country-made pistol before walking into the adjacent room where Shirisha was sleeping. He knocked on the door and tried to shoot at her when she opened. However, the pistol did not fire and he reloaded the weapon and fired at her. The bullet brushed the left side of her face, and she collapsed,” Police Commissioner M.N. Reddi said.

The police arrested Som Singh, chairman of the College under Section 188 of the IPC.