Delhi: Class VIII boy beats up teacher with rod

NEW DELHI: A teacher at a government school in Saket was beaten up by a student with an iron rod for complaining about his irregular attendance. Police said the 14-year-old carried the iron rod in his bag, which the teacher had found and confiscated. Angry about the rebuke, the Class VIII student took the rod from the teacher and hit him a few times on his head and face. Police said that after the attack, the boy managed to climb over the school fence and flee.

DCP (south) Vijay Kumar said that the incident happened around 9.30 am. The teacher had found the rod while checking the students’ bags and reprimanded the child for carrying it to school.

The teacher kept the rod on his table and started teaching. The boy then went to the teacher’s desk and quietly managed to take the rod back and kept it in his bag. When the teacher tried to take the bag, he took the rod out and hit the teacher on his face and head. “He was taken to AIIMS Trauma Center and is undergoing treatment for the injuries. A case is being registered and a probe is on,” said DCP Kumar.

According to the school’s principal, the incident took place in the morning when the classes started. “The student has been missing from school lately and when he came to the class today, the teacher questioned him. After that, he called up the boy’s parents and complained to them about how the student had been missing from school. This may have angered him and he took out the rod from his bag and hit him. The teacher is in the hospital and is stable now,” the principal said.

Taking note of the incident, Ajay Veer Yadav, general secretary of the Government School Teachers’ Association (GSTA), said that the “government has always ignored the safety of school teachers. The suggestions made by the GSTA were not highlighted due to which incidents like these are increasing every day.”

Alluding to the incident two years ago where a teacher in a government school in Nangloi was allegedly murdered by two school students, Yadav added that in the name of security, schools have hired unprofessional people. “Security companies hire rickshaw pullers or green grocers as security guards who have no experience or knowledge on how to deal with students.”

He also said that by increasing the powers of the school management committees (SMC) where guardians are members, “the government has made sure that guardians humiliate teachers every day. This inspires the students to commit crimes. This politics of the government will not work. We will organise a mahapanchayat and a protest against this policy.”