The boys were left behind by their parents who found a single teacher managing an elementary school in Lianqiao town of Hunan province and attacked her with wooden stick, stuffed her mouth with cloth and pushed her into a bathroom, where she was found dead.
The three later ran away with the mobile of the 52-year-old teacher as well as 2000 yuan cash, state-run Beijing News reported.
The three boys who were reportedly studying in some other school were later arrested, the report said.
China's rural areas have tens of millions of left-behind children, and their wellbeing has become a major social concern.
