Student ‘thrashed, confined’ by teacher; residents lock school in Abohar village

High drama was witnessed at Government Secondary School, Malukpura, in Abohar, a sub-division of Fazilka district, on Monday when villagers locked the school and held a protest against alleged corporal punishment to a girl student.

Parents of Lovepreet, a Class-8 student, alleged that she was not only beaten up by a female teacher, but was also tied in a room for several hours on Saturday. Lovepreet had to be admitted to a government hospital, they said.

Enraged over the incident, villagers, including women, reached the school on Monday morning and locked the main gate. They also raised slogans demanding action against the teacher.

Teachers had to take shelter in a house till Abohar sub-divisional magistrate Poonam Singh came and tried to pacify the protesters.

The school authorities alleged that Lovepreet’s elder brother used the teacher’s picture on his social media account. Though the matter was amicably resolved on Saturday, villages resorted to protest on Monday, claimed the school authorities. When contacted, the SDM said she has constituted a three-member committee led by the district education officer to probe the matter.