Asked to behave, Gujarat boy slaps teacher

SURAT: A 50-year-old woman schoolteacher was allegedly slapped by a 15-year-old student after she reprimanded him for harassing a classmate here on Thursday.
A teacher at Sir J J English School Hasumati Sarang received a complaint from a student that a student of class IX Aseem (name changed) was harassing him. Sarang called Aseem and scolded him. This is when Aseem slapped her hard, sending her spectacles flying and causing facial injuries to her.

Soon, other students and teachers reached the spot to reassure Sarang, who was in a shock with the circumstances in which she was slapped remaining shrouded in mystery.

“The schoolteacher’s face was bleeding due to injuries. She is in deep shock after being slapped and our staff is also worried after the incident,” said school principal Himanshu Parekh.

Meanwhile, Aseem and his parents alleged that he was being harassed by the teacher and hence he was compelled to slap her. They alleged that the teacher incited other students to thrash Aseem after the incident. The student was admitted to a hospital with complaint of injury after he was thrashed in the school.

“My son was attacked by other students after they were incited by the schoolteacher. I am worried about my son’s studies. He was being harassed by the teacher after which he slapped her,” Aseem’s father said. Aseem’s father works as a tempo driver.

Aseem’s parents were called to the school and authorities said they will be forced to hand over the school leaving certificate to him. It was then that Aseem apologized to the teacher in the presence of his parents. However, later the family began to level allegations against the teacher.

“I am inquiring into the incident to find out what exactly had happened. Only after hearing the teacher and the student, I will be able to reach to any conclusion. We are examining the CCTV footages too,” Parekh said. “If the student was being harassed by the teacher, he should have complained to the school authorities earlier. He is studying here since June,” Parekh added.

The school is run by Surat Parsi Panchayat (SPP) and is one of the oldest in the city. “It is a matter of great concern to us and the principal is conducting an inquiry to find out the truth,” SPP president Jamshed Dottiwala said.

“The principal will submit his report in a day. So far I found out that a student had complained to the teacher that class IX student was harassing him. The teacher was asking Aseem to behave when he slapped her. The teacher ran out of the classroom with blood all over her face and when other students noticed this, they thrashed the student,” district education officer U N Rathod said.