She added in a choked voice, “Binay would have been in Class X had he been alive.”

Contacted, Ranchi SSP Anish Gupta said the matter was in court and police had already taken action in the matter. “Trial is on in court. It is difficult to comment on a sub-judice matter. We hope the forensic report of the Android phone recording near the murder spot comes soon (from the Calcutta lab),” Gupta said.

The elite school had strangely put up an Android phone for surveillance above the teachers’ hostel front porch, where seventh grader Binay was found battered.

I try to be strong but when I think my son is gone and the school is running without any hindrance and the 14 accused are enjoying full freedom, I feel cheated. Police officers who investigated the case were promoted and transferred. And I am running from civil court to Supreme Court for justice.

Kashila Devi, Binay’s mother

It was a death anniversary which never should have been in the first place or at least one in which the truth was out by now.

Class VII student Binay Kumar Mahto of Sapphire International School, Hardag, was found murdered on the residential campus three years ago on February 5, but the high-profile case has not yet been solved.

On Tuesday, his parents Manbahal Mahto and Kashila Devi performed a special prayer at their Chandaghasi home behind Birsa Munda Airport. Chandaghasi residents turned up in large numbers at Binay’s family home. Many were seen speaking to Binay’s younger brothers Vivek and Vipul, who had been 11 and 8 at the time of the tragedy.

Most Chandaghasi residents said they were waiting for the case to be solved and culprits punished. “We will not rest till we ensure punishment for the culprits,” said Kishwar Mahto, Binay’s cousin. Binay’s uncle Raja Ram added, “This tragedy changed everybody here forever.”

Bereaved father Manbahal said even after three years they had not got proper justice in the case. “Teachers Arif Ali Ansari and Nazia Hussain and their two juvenile children were arrested after the murder. The two children were acquitted by the juvenile justice board and both Ali and Nazia are out on bail. The court during the trial of the case made 10 more teaching and non-teaching employees of the school accused but so far none have been arrested. I filed a case last year before the high court demanding a proper probe into my son’s murder, but so far no order has come in the matter,” he said