3 govt teachers who beat up 40 Class 11 students in Tohana booked

Three teachers of a government senior secondary school at Fatehabad’s Tohana were booked for allegedly beating up as many as 40 students of Class 11 on September 6, police said on Wednesday

Three teachers of a government senior secondary school at Fatehabad’s Tohana were booked for allegedly beating up as many as 40 students of Class 11 on September 6, police said on Wednesday. Of the 40 students, as many as 10 with severe injuries had to be hospitalised.

The corporal punishment to Class 11 students at a government senior secondary school at Fatehabad’s Tohana was given as the students were making noise in the classroom when teacher was not around. (Hindustan Times/representational)

According to the information, the corporal punishment was given as the students were making noise. The teachers who have been booked were identified as Rajni, Mange Ram and Charanjit Singh.

Three students and their parents, who made a joint complaint before Tohana City police station, said a student blew whistle in the classroom when no teacher was present. “Three teachers visited the class and asked us to reveal the name of the student who whistled. The students said they did not know whose act it was. Then teachers started thrashing us brutally and we received injuries on back, legs and other parts of the body. Charanjit Singh made casteist remarks at us and threatened to rusticate us if we revealed this incident to our parents,” the students added.

Physical education teacher Rajni also lodged a coounter FIR against three Class 11 students, accusing them of misbehaving with her and hurling abuses. Police have booked three students in this regard.

Ram Chander, a parent, said the teachers had given punishment to the entire class instead of identifying the student who misbehaved in the classroom. “My son was brutally thrashed and he is hospitalised. There were injury marks on his body. We have asked the police to arrest these teachers,” he added.

Tohana DSP Biram Singh said they have booked three teachers under sections 294 (sings, recites or utters any obscene song, ballad or words, in or near any public place), 323 (punishment for voluntarily causing hurt), 34 (acts done by several persons with furtherance intention) of the Indian Penal Code and Section 3 of the SC/ST Act, while three students were also booked on a complaint filed by a woman teacher.

Haryana State Commission for Protection of Child Rights chairperson, Jyoti Bainda, asked Fatehabad superintendent of police to submit a report within five days. “It came to the fore that three teachers had beaten up as many as 40 students with sticks. We have asked the police to conduct a medical examination of the students and take proper action in this matter,” she added.

Fatehabad district education officer Dayanand Sihag said he has ordered an inquiry by block education officer and asked him to submit a report at the earliest.