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Gadag: Mother of 10-year-old boy thrown off balcony by teacher dies
The deceased has been identified as Geetha Barikera, a teacher of the Hadali government primary school in Naragund taluk of Gadag district, police said.
The teacher of a government-run school in Karnataka’s Gadag district who sustained severe head injuries after her colleague assaulted her with a shovel earlier this week, succumbed to her injuries on Thursday, police said.
The deceased has been identified as Geetha Barikera, a teacher of the Hadali government primary school in Naragund taluk of Gadag district, police said.
“She was the mother of the 10-year-old Class 4 student, Bharat Barikera, who died after being thrashed and thrown off the first-floor balcony of the school by the same accused guest teacher, identified as Muthappa Hadagali (32), said a senior police officer.
According to the police, the incident took place on December 19, when the accused guest teacher first beat up the boy on the first floor of the school premises and then threw him off the building, which lead to his death. The accused also thrashed the boy’s mother with a shovel when she intervened, police said.
“The boy’s mother was severely injured in the incident and after battling for three days at KIMS hospital in Hubballi, she succumbed to her head injuries on Thursday,” a senior police officer said, requesting anonymity.
The accused was arrested on December 20 and booked under Section 302 (murder) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC). “He has been remanded to 14-day police custody,” the officer added.
Meanwhile, the government school where the incident took place wore a deserted look after the incident, which has shocked both students and their parents. A police van has been camping at the school since Monday to instill confidence in children, a school official said.
“We did not announce any holiday, but parents refused to send their children to school after the incident,” said head teacher BS Yavagal. “All senior officers, including deputy commissioner and superintendent of police, have visited the school and spoke with the parents and teachers.”
The school development monitoring committee (SDMC) organised a meeting with the parents on Thursday based on the directions of deputy director of public instruction (DDPI) HT Basavalingappa. Parents alleged that over 400 students were studying at the school, but the department has provided one five teachers and appointed six guest teachers.
After discussions, the parents agreed to send their children to school from next Monday.
