Bengaluru: Teacher held for assaulting student in classroom

BENGALURU: Corporal punishment raised its ugly head when a 32-year-old mathematics teacher at Narayana e-Techno School, Vidyaranyapura, north Bengaluru was arrested for assaulting a Class X student on Thursday. The student, who was repeatedly slapped for talking in the classroom, suffered damage to his left eardrum, his mother said.
Vidyaranyapura police have identified the teacher as Venkata Subbaiah, a resident of Vidyaranyapura and a native of Andhra Pradesh. “We have registered a case of assault against Subbaiah under IPC sections 324 and 326 (voluntarily causing grievous injury by dangerous weapons or means) and also under section 82 (subjecting a child to corporal punishment) of the Juvenile Justice Act,” police said. “We have not registered a case against the school.”

Police say the incident occurred around 12.30pm on Wednesday during a special class for Class X students. Along with their complaint to the police, the parents of the student had also submitted CCTV footage of the incident, obtained from the school. The footage shows Subbaiah walking rapidly up to the victim who is seated, slapping him and then repeatedly hitting him with a duster.

“We summoned the teacher and management for questioning,” police said. “The management has agreed to cooperate with the police investigation.” Subbaiah was later arrested and remanded in judicial custody.

Bhagyajyothi N, the mother of victim and a teacher with a private school in Yelahanka, said she would not have filed a complaint had the damage to her son’s ear not been so serious.

“Being a teacher, I know what they go through to keep students in line,” Bhagyajyothi said. “It is understandable if he had beaten my son on the thigh or hands. But this teacher beat my son mercilessly and it has caused damage to his eardrum. Doctors say my son would need medication for a month after which they will decide if he needs surgery.”

The victim claimed the maths teacher had been targeting him for some time. “We students were all talking since there was no teacher in the classroom. I was speaking to a friend who was seated in the row behind mine. The maths teacher saw this from outside. He stormed into the classroom and began slapping me. Before I knew what was happening, he took a duster and hit me several times. It was very painful. He then left the classroom without bothering to check on my condition.”

Bhagyajyothi said school staff called her at around 2pm. “I immediately went to the school and was informed about the incident. Staff had applied cold compress with ice cubes to reduce the pain. I took him to a hospital in the evening and there I learnt his eardrum was damaged.”

Bhagyajyothi and husband Nagabhushan, a vegetable vendor, along with relatives and friends staged a protest in front of the school before filing a police complaint on Thursday.