A seven-year-old student has died after being allegedly beaten up at a residential school in Bihar’s Saharsa district for not completing his homework.

The school owner is the prime suspect in the case.

The incident took place at Bodhi Public School at Hussain Chak under Simri Bakhtiyarpur police station on Thursday. Victim Aditya Yadav was in lower kindergarten and staying there as a boarding student.

“Our sir beat up Aditya very badly with a stick on Wednesday for not doing his homework. It was the second consecutive day he was beaten. He took his meals in the evening and went to bed. When I tried to wake him up the next morning (Thursday) for brushing his teeth, he did not wake up. His body had become stiff,” Shivam Kumar, a Class IV student and a hostel inmate told reporters.

“We carried Aditya to sir. He took a look and told us he (Aditya) has died, but he would take him to a hospital,” Shivam added and identified‘sir’ as school owner Sujit Kumar Mehta.

Mehta called up Aditya’sfather Prakash Yadav and told him that his son had fallen ill and was being taken to hospital.

Sources said the boy was first taken to a local quack, identified as Shambhu Prasad, who asked Mehta to take him to a hospital. He was then admitted to Asha Nursing Home in Saharsa town.

“The boy was already dead when they brought him to our hospital,” said doctor Dinesh Kumar of Asha Nursing Home.

Aditya’s father submitted a complaint at the Sadar police station and later registered an FIR against Mehta at Simri Bakhtiyarpur police station.

Simri Bakhtiyarpur police station in-charge Mahesh Kumar Rajak said an FIR was registered on Friday.

“The FIR has been registered under IPC Section 302(murder). The school owner is absconding and we are trying to nab him,” Mahesh said.