Delhi schoolteacher assaults fifth grader with scissors, pushes her off 1st floor

A case under Section 307 (attempt to murder) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) was registered and the teacher arrested, said Chauhan

A 26-year-old woman teacher at a municipal corporation school in north Delhi allegedly assaulted a 10-year-old student with a pair of scissors and threw her off a first-floor classroom on Friday morning, said the police, adding the teacher was arrested on charges of attempted murder.

The Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD), in an official statement, said it will bear all the expenses of the child’s treatment.

Deputy commissioner of police (central) Shweta Chauhan said that around 11.15am, the beat officer was informed that a student was thrown from the first floor of the Nigam Prathmik Balika Vidyalaya in Model Basti in Karol Bagh. The station house officer and other police officers rushed to the school, where the teacher, who was caught by staff at the premises, was handed over to them.

“The teacher first hit the girl in the head with a pair of scissors and then threw her down from the balcony of a first-floor classroom,” Chauhan said. The Class 5 student was rushed to Bara Hindu Rao Hospital and later in the evening, shifted to Safdarjung Hospital. According to doctors, she is out of danger, said the police.

A case under Section 307 (attempt to murder) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) was registered and the teacher arrested, said Chauhan.

The Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD), in an official statement, said it will bear all the expenses of the child’s treatment.

“All tests necessary, including CT scan, have been done. All the test and scan reports are normal and the child is stable and responding well to treatment. She has been referred to Safdarjung hospital. MCD will bear all expenditure of the treatment of the child,” said the statement.

The statement added that the teacher, who was appointed in 2019, was suspended immediately. “Further investigation in the matter is on and a departmental inquiry will be conducted expeditiously,” it said.

A classmate of the student said that just before the incident, the teacher made unintelligible statements and suddenly lost her temper — without any ostensible trigger. “She kept saying she would kill us all,” the student said.

In a video that emerged after the incident, the classroom is seen in disarray, with tables and chairs upended. There are several drops of blood on one of the chairs. The teacher is seen sitting on the floor, shouting and abusing those standing around her.

An investigator said it was not clear what provoked the teacher because she was making incomprehensible statements. However, a preliminary probe found that the teacher entered the classroom, locked it from the inside, upended desks and chairs, and threatened students.

“She approached the girl and hit her a few times on the head with a pair of scissors. She then threw her off the balcony. Another teacher, hearing the ruckus, broke open the classroom door and tried to stop her, but the teacher pushed her away,” the officer said.

According to the police, the teacher had a miscarriage in 2021, adding, however, that this did not seem to have a bearing on Friday’s incident. Officers aware of the matter said that an initial probe did not reveal a history or prior reports of mental illness.

The girl’s 38-year-old father, a resident of Manakpur in north Delhi who works at a fire station at Rani Jhansi, said that he received a call about his daughter from someone in the school around 10am, and rushed there. “I saw a lot of people had gathered at the school, and a crowd had surrounded the teacher. I was told that my daughter had been shifted to Bara Hindu Rao Hospital so I went there,” he said. He did not know why the teacher hit his child but was told by other students that she hit other students as well. Police said they did not receive any complaint from other students.

The 10-year-old’s father said the girl has not complained about the teacher in the past. “I could have lost my child today. She is traumatised. This teacher needs to be given the strictest punishment. How can schools employ such teachers?” he said.