In the eye of a storm: The Swadeshi Academy. Picture by Biju Boro

Nov. 12: Stunned by the arrest of five of its students on suspicion of murdering one of their classmates, the Swadeshi Academy looked askance at the relationship between “new-generation” parents and their wards in its search for a reason for such abnormal behaviour.

The five class XI students who were taken into custody yesterday said their classmate Debasish Deb slipped into the Brahmaputra and drowned during a picnic at Umananda on Friday, but investigators suspect he was murdered. Another suspect, a student of the same school, is evading arrest.

City police today said the search for Debasish’s body at the spot where his classmates say he “slipped” did not yield any result. In the school where the boys study, the mood was sombre. The director of the institution, . Sharma, said the reactions of the six students to the death of their classmate were “more stunning” than their arrests.

Describing it as “an eye-opener for new-generation parents and students alike”, he called for an in-depth study of the “behavioural pattern” of teenagers to ascertain what exactly makes them prone to delinquency.

Sharma disclosed that the accused — all students of commerce — were neither habitual troublemakers nor known to misbehave in college. He said they were, however, irregular in attending classes.

“All seven students were close friends and always seen together. But what perplexes me was the way the boys behaved after their classmate supposedly drowned. They not only hid the entire incident from the parents of the deceased and the police, but also behaved normally,” the director said.

The day after the incident, all six students attended tutorials, their teacher P.K. Pujari said.

When Debasish’s sister went to the residence of one of the accused to enquire about her brother, she found him watching television and having breakfast. A classmate who accompanied the girl said the boy appeared “very cool”.

Sharma attributed the “strange behaviour” of children to parental inadequacy. “They do not have any emotional attachment. How else can one watch television, listen to music and have fun just a day after his friend has drowned?”

The Swadeshi Academy director said most parents appeared to believe that their responsibility towards children begin and end with financing their education and fulfilling other material needs.

“On the flip side, some parents go out of the way to indulge their children. When the academy prevented students from coming to school on motorbikes and parking these within the campus, the objections came from the parents. They said their wards could not come to college without their motorbikes,” he added.