Hadmaster thrashes students for not sweeping floors

Even though the State Government has banned corporal punishment in schools, three girl students of the Mahasingh Nodal UP School in Kandhamal district were injured on Friday after being allegedly beaten up by the school headmaster for not sweeping the classrooms. The injured were rushed to the Balliguda hospital, where their conditions were stated to be stable now. Sources said Headmaster Harish Chandra Sahoo asked one of the girls to sweep a classroom, but she walked away without listening to him. Sahoo reportedly lost his temper over such disobedience and began beating up the students. Two girls lost their consciousness due to the thrashing.

“I heard him tell another girl to sweep the floor, but she did not listen. After some time, he came up to me and started beating me and another girl. He also hit the girl who was earlier asked to sweep the floor,” said one of the injured students.

Block Education Officer Pramod Kumar Mallick, who rushed to the spot, said the incident was being investigated. After the probe, action would be taken against the guilty.