A 16-year-old Grade 10 pupil has been arrested and charged with murder after allegedly stabbing a fellow pupil to death during an altercation at a high school in Dimbaza, outside Qonce, on Tuesday.
Eastern Cape police said the incident happened inside a classroom at about midday.
Provincial police spokesperson Col Siphokazi Mawisa said the victim was sitting in class when the suspect, also a 16-year-old Grade 10 pupil, approached a classroom window with a group of friends and allegedly began mocking him.
“According to reports, the suspect and his friends started mocking the deceased by calling him names. What initially appeared to be a joke escalated into an exchange of punches between the two learners,” Mawisa said.
She said the suspect then entered the classroom and claimed the victim had stabbed him with a pen.
“The suspect allegedly asked one of his friends to hand him a pen, claiming he had been stabbed with one by the deceased. Instead, the friend allegedly handed him an Okapi knife, which the suspect allegedly used to stab the deceased in the chest,” Mawisa said.
After those present realised the injured pupil was bleeding, he was taken to the staff room before being rushed to the nearest clinic, where he was declared dead on arrival.
Mawisa said both pupils were in Grade 10 and came from the same area in Dimbaza.
Police opened a murder case and arrested the suspect shortly after the incident.
The teenager is expected to appear in the Dimbaza magistrate’s court on Wednesday on a charge of murder.
Police investigations are continuing.
Daily Dispatch