CHENNAI: Police have detained a 28-year-old man for cooking up a story of a girl being raped, murdered and buried on her school campus. The hoax on Monday led to a noisy protest by parents at the St Theresa Girls Higher Secondary School at Pallavaram.

It turned out that the accused, identified as Sampath, had an axe to grind after he failed to get a seat in the school for a friend's child. Police said the man used a morphed photograph of a girl making it gory, and posted on Facebook , saying she was found raped and murdered on the campus. Police booked him under IPC section 505 (1) (b) for spreading rumours and disturbing public peace. Police have also invoked the Prevention of Woman Harassment Act for threatening the staff and officials of the school.

Police said they are searching for more people involved in spreading the rumour. St Theresa Higher Secondary School principal A Maria Philomi said, "Ours is a half-a-century old institution which is respected by all. Some anti-social elements wanted to tarnish the image of the school."

The school, which remained closed on Monday and Tuesday, reopened on Wednesday as ordered by Kancheepuram collector . tnnPolice personnel were posted at the school as a precaution. Two CCTV cameras were also installed at the entrance to monitor movements.

