CHENNAI: Confusion and chaos reigned at the St Mary’s Anglo Indian Higher Secondary School on Thursday after it was declared closed following the murder of a teacher by a student. For, the school sent text messages to parents to collect their children without specifying the reason.Nazar, father of a Class X student, who was standing outside the school, said, “My son has his English I exam on Friday and was studying at home when I received a text message requesting me to pick up my ward as the school had been closed early for the day. Curiosity drew me here. Only after reaching the school I learnt that a teacher was murdered.”Nazar’s son was once a student of the deceased Uma Maheshwari, who also taught Chemistry. He claimed that she was always soft with students even if they were poor in academics. “My son got very upset when he heard this and stopped studying. I had met her earlier in parent-teacher meetings as she was my son’s class teacher in Class IX. She never used to treat students harshly,” he said with tears in his eyes.“My son had seen the assailant many times. He was an introvert and never used to talk to anyone,” Nazar claimed.Sources say the boy, who was well-built, told police that the teacher had given many remarks on him and had informed his parents too. Hence his parents had often scolded him, which ‘forced’ him to murder her.Most of the parents, who learnt about the murder only upon their arrival on the school premises, gathered in large numbers in front of the school gate waiting for their children. “The teacher had upbraided him and spoken to his parents. We heard he stabbed the teacher. This has never happened in our school,” said Azad, a student.The school has classes from third to plus two. Class X students had come to school for a revision before exams, students claimed.While the equally shocked teachers of the school refused to speak, parents were agitated. “Everybody blames a teacher if he or she takes action against a student. What protection does a teacher have? What will the parent community or government will do?” wondered angry parent J K Nathan.Meanwhile, relatives and friends gathered at the government general hospital on Thursday afternoon where the body of Uma Maheshwari was brought for post mortem. Her husband Ravishankar works as a regional manager in a private company. The couple has two girl children, the police said. Uma’s uncle Nanjil Kumaran, former Chennai city commissioner of police, said: “She was a nice person and a good teacher. She never used to discuss her school with us.”Hailing from a family of teachers, Uma was known among her relatives as someone who had a passion for teaching and had been working in the school for the past six years. “She even got job offers from banks but turned them down. She found satisfaction in teaching and was looking for a teaching opening in college,” said Sugumaran, her uncle.The teacher’s two children were students of classes XI and VII in a school at Ambattur and were staying in a hostel. Relatives claimed that the kids used to visit their parents only during weekends. “Both the children saw their mother’s body. The younger daughter did not even cry on seeing the body,” said Uma’s aunt Hemalatha. Ravishankar’s friends and colleagues consoled him as he stood near the mortuary in tears.The school will remain closed for the next two days.
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