Neighbours say boy was well-behaved

CHENNAI: A day after the arrest of a 14-year-old boy for murdering his schoolteacher, his neighbours at Seven Wells claimed the boy was well-behaved whenever they interacted with him. The boy’s family, living in the second floor of the two-storey building, had shut doors and were not responding when this reporter rang the doorbell.“I was surprised when a friend of mine called up and said the boy was my neighbour. I have been regularly supplying meat to his family. Even at his home, he always stayed quiet. It’s sad. His mother was inconsolable after she came to know about the incident,” said Nurula, a meat stall owner and neighbour.Locals claimed that the boy’s family had been living in the area for over three decades and was well respected. They added that the boy had two elder sisters — a dentist who once worked in Mannadi and another married and settled in Hyderabad — and a younger sister who is in school. They said the boy never mingled with other children in the street.“Even if he goes to a shop, he would buy what he wants and not utter a word more. Usually, he went to school in a car. At times, the driver would drop him in a two-wheeler,” said Rani, a maid living in the same street.“My son also studied in the same school. He had once visited the boy’s house, but never told me anything adverse,” said Prasanna, another neighbour.