It took five children and two deaths to make the parents of the students at the Adivasi Ashramshala in Partur return to school. Many of them came after years and took away their kids; some are yet to come. The incident has thrown up a bigger question: what happens to these children, mostly belonging to the Pardhi tribe and whose parents are fighting a losing battle to shed the tag of “criminals”?

Tired of not having seen their parents, the three students accused of murder at the Adivasi Ashramshala in Partur town of Jalna district in western Maharashtra had planned to go home. With them were two others — Ashok Sonaji Kale (9) and his brother Mangal Sonaji Kale (5) — who too wanted to go home. However, on Tuesday, when the five escaped from the school-cum-hostel, the three elder ones decided to kill the other two to ensure a longer holiday for themselves.

Police said the kids left the school at around 9 pm last Tuesday. The three elder ones strangled the two brothers in a bush near the school, dragged their bodies close to the school toilet and went back to sleep. All this to ensure that the school remained close for a while.

Dhurabai Sonaji Kale, mother of the deceased kids, is inconsolable. Her nine-year-old daughter Indira, studying in the same school, is now back home. “Now what is the use of an investigation? We have lost our kids. We wanted them to shed the tag of a criminal that follows the Pardhis everywhere. All our dreams are shattered,” said Baburao Kale, grandfather of the two children who were killed.

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