Patna,  A six-year old student was allegedly beaten to death for picking up and eating an apple that was kept for offering to Goddess Durga during puja at his school in Bihar's Gaya district, an official said.

The incident happended on Tuesday while it was reported to the police on Friday. The Gaya police arrested a couple in this matter, who were running a residential school named Little Leaders Public School in Baki Bigha village under Wazirganj block in Gaya.

Ram Balak Prasad, the grandfather of victim child Vivek, in a statement to the police said: "The school has organised Durga Puja inside the premises. There were some fruits (prasad) on a table and Vivek picked an apple from it and consumed it. Following the incident, the owners of the school kept Vivek in a room and brutally assaulted him. After the physical assault, they threw him outside the premises."

"My grandson went unconscious outside the gate of the school. An auto driver, from my village, spotted Vivek in an unconscious state, brought him home in Ukhra village under Wazirganj block and handed him over to us. As his condition was serious, we immediately took him to a local hospital. Looking to his condition, the doctors of the hospital referred him to Magadh Medical College. Vivek succumbed on the way to the medical college," Prasad added.

"Vivek had narrated his ordeal and told us that Vikas Singh and his wife had thrashed him on the chest," Prasad said.

Ram Ekbal Yadav, the SHO of Wazirganj said: "We have registered an FIR and arrested the accused. The family members of the deceased claimed that the student Vivek was studying in Little Leaders Public School and staying there in the hostel. He was brutally assaulted by the accused named Vikas Singh and his wife who are the owners of the school. The victim died under mysterious circumstances. We are investigating the incident."

"The actual cause of death will be ascertained only after the postmortem and viscera tests," Yadav said.