“When I asked him why he came home late, he told me about the incident in the school. He said that during the interval, he touched the motorcycle of a teacher. Irked over it, the teacher abused him and beat him badly. Later, the teacher locked my son inside an empty room... After the school got over, the teacher allowed my son to return home. The teacher also made casteist remarks while he thrashed my son.” An FIR has been registered against a government school teacher in Ballia for allegedly thrashing an 11-year-old Dalit student and then locking up him inside a classroom after the boy touched his motorcycle, police said on Sunday.
The teacher has not been arrested yet, they added.
Basic Shiksha Adhikari (Ballia) Mani Ram Singh said the 43-year-old teacher was suspended after several allegations against him were found to be true during a preliminary inquiry into the matter.
According to the student’s mother, her son, who studies in Class VI, came late from school on Friday.
“When I asked him why he came home late, he told me about the incident in the school. He said that during the interval, he touched the motorcycle of a teacher. Irked over it, the teacher abused him and beat him badly. Later, the teacher locked my son inside an empty room… After the school got over, the teacher allowed my son to return home. The teacher also made casteist remarks while he thrashed my son.”
The mother said that after knowing about the incident, she called the school principal.
“I asked him why my son was harassed and beaten up in his presence. When he did not give any specific reply, I told him to register an FIR with the police. The principal requested me not to escalate the matter further and asked to settle it,” said the mother of the child.
The student’s father works as a labourer in Gujarat.
On Saturday, villagers protested outside the school and demanded the suspension and arrest of the accused teacher. The matter was resolved when officials of district administration and police reached the spot and assured action against the teacher.
Despite repeated attempts, the school principal was not available for comment.
The FIR against the school teacher has been lodged on charges of voluntarily causing hurt and wrongful confinement. Police have invoked the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act against the accused teacher.