Class V student brutally caned by private tutor

KOLKATA: A class V student in Dum Dum returned home on Thursday with wounds on his legs and back after he was allegedly caned by a private tutor in the evening. His crime – the teacher alleged, he had forgot to bring an English exercise copy.
The incident happened at Bedia Para in Dum Dum, in the northern fringes of the city. According to the 10-year-old boy’s mother, the student looked upset since he returned home around 10pm and refused to have dinner. When the mother insisted and pulled him by his leg as he sat on the bed, he shrieked in pain. “My son screamed. I rolled up his trousers and found there were fresh injury marks that were extremely brutal. I checked further and found there were multiple wounds on his spine, back and legs. My son refused to tell me initially what had caused the injuries but when I insisted he told me that he was beaten by his teacher,” said the boy’s mother.

The mother immediately called the teacher, 32, to know why she had beaten him and the mother said, she did not seem repentant at all.

“She admitted to have hit my son and was least repentant. My son said, she had even threatened her to not to say at home that she had beaten him. The same was the instruction for the other four students who were at the class on Thursday,” she said.

The parents then took the boy to a local hospital where he underwent treatment and was advised complete bed rest for the next few days. “My son cannot walk now. The teacher had even shoved the cane in his mouth when he had screamed in pain. We want strictest punishment for the teacher,” she said.

The parents later went to the Dum Dum police station and lodged a complaint against Poddar. Police went to her home early on Friday and questioned her at home but didn’t arrest her. “We are looking into the complaint and have started our investigation,” an officer said.

When TOI called up the teacher, she admitted to have committed the crime. “I believe one has to beat students to make them disciplined. I was also beaten up when I was a student and I also beat my own son when he doesn’t study or listen to me,” the teacher said.

The teacher added that she often beats children using cane. “These children have such a tough skin that if I slap them with bare hands, it hurts me. Hence I prefer beating them using canes,” she said.

On being asked if she was apologetic for her deeds she said: “I have already been to the boy’s home and have apologised. The boy’s mother herself had asked me to discipline her and now she is lodging a police complaint. This is not the first occasion I have beaten him. I don’t know why the family is creating such a fuss on this occasion.”