Class 12 girl says teacher slapped her ‘12 times’, principal says it’s okay

GURUGRAM: A Class XII girl of Government Senior Secondary School, Sector 4-7, was allegedly slapped 12 times by her games teacher on Friday for laughing too loudly during the lunch break. She claimed that now she could barely hear from her left ear.
The students were going back to their classes around 11.30am after the lunch break when Gayatri Mandal (16) was assaulted by the teacher. She said, “I was standing in the hallway, waiting to go inside my classroom when the teacher heard someone laughing. Without even checking who was it, she slapped me 12 times.” The student has alleged that the assault didn’t end there but that the teacher further grabbed her by the collar and dragged her to a corner of the school where she slapped her on the ear with full force.

“Mam was shouting and asking ‘why did you laugh’. I started crying and told her that I was not the one who was laughing. Later she dragged me to the principal’s room,” said Gayatri.

She alleged that principal Suman Lata supported the games teacher and didn’t listen to her. According to Gayatri, she said, “It’s fine if the teacher has hit you.”

When contacted, Lata said, “There are 3,000 students in the school. If a teacher slaps a student, it’s fine. She only did it to maintain discipline in the school.”

The 32-year-old games teacher said it was no big deal, adding, “Mandal was speaking rudely and so, I slapped her. However, the girl is lying about me slapping her 14 times.”

Gayatri’s father Viren Mandal, who is a labourer, said, “When my daughter came back from school, I saw that her face was red and had slap marks. I took her to Jain Hospital at Railway Road as she was complaining of pain in her ears.”

With no ENT doctor in the hospital, Gayatri received first aid and was advised to return on Saturday morning. “My ear is hurting so badly that I can barely hear anything,” said Gayatri.

Ravinder Alawadhi, district education officer, said, “No complaint has come to us. If we receive a complaint, action will be taken against the school and the games teacher.”