14-Year-Old Indian Girl Undergoes 20-Hour Surgery After Chainsaw Attack In School

(MENAFN- Khaleej Times) The family of a 14-year-old Indian girl who is being treated in hospital after being brutally attacked with a chainsaw described the accused as a "psychopath" and demanded strict punishment to set an example for others.

Mudaga Gopika was attending classes at a government-run school in Raptadu village in the state's Anantapur district on Saturday when Hemanth, a distant relative, attacked her and left her with severe face, head and neck injuries and multiple cuts, including one measuring 7cm.

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The 21-year-old perpetrator had walked into the classroom carrying a chainsaw before attacking Gopika and fleeing, Gopika's grandfather Mudaga Katamaiya told Khaleej Times.

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Another girl, Gopika's classmate Sake Jyoti, who tried to intervene, suffered a hairline fracture in her leg.

Police arrested the accused late on Sunday in a forest area, hours after the incident.

A case of attempted murder has been filed against Hemanth. Police are investigating the reason for the attack and examining whether he had planned it and conducted reconnaissance of the school premises.

“He is a psychopath; he should be killed in a police encounter," said the grieving grandfather, underscoring Hemanth should face the strictest punishment under the law so he can never commit such a heinous act again."

“This would also set a precedent for others who will think twice before attacking a child,” Katamaiya added.

A police encounter is a term used for extra-judicial killings. India has a long history of such killings, in which police arbitrarily gun down detainees to either cover up flawed investigations or pacify public anger.

Although illegal, such actions enjoy public support due to deep frustrations with the slow pace of the judicial system, prolonged trials and low conviction rates, and the perception that justice is often delayed or denied, particularly in cases involving brutal crimes against women and children.

Stable condition

Gopika was rushed to hospital, where she underwent an eight-hour surgery. Once her condition stabilised, she was shifted to a hospital in Bengaluru, in neighbouring Karnataka, for another 12-hour surgery on her head.

“Doctors said that even a slight delay in bringing her to the hospital would have meant her death. We cannot describe the pain she is in. We are in complete shock,” Katamaiya said.

“She survived the attack because she was still sitting when he started hitting her, so her head was not fatally struck. If she had been standing, she could have died because of the repeated hits.”

The attack triggered panic at the school. Staff members said they initially assumed Hemanth had come to carry out some work on the premises. But before they could understand what was happening, he attacked the girl and fled. Teachers alerted the police and rushed both girls to hospital.

"The classroom doors are generally kept open. Someone came through that door...he turned on the motor from outside and then came inside. We didn't even understand what instrument it was," Rajeshwari, a mathematics teacher who was taking the class, told the local media.

Accused in critical condition

Police had formed 15 teams to nab the accused. They received a tip-off that he was hiding in a forest area. On Sunday, around 6.30pm, when police arrived to arrest him, he allegedly tried to attack them with a knife, P Jagadeesh, the district's chief police officer, said.

Police fired six rounds at him. He sustained bullet injuries to his lower body and knee and was sent to a hospital for treatment, where his condition was reported to be critical.

“During the process, he attempted to attack our officers with a knife that he was carrying. Initially, our officers warned him by firing in the air, but he again tried to attack. Subsequently, our people opened fire. We are yet to interrogate him,” Jagadeesh said.

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