10-year-old Nalasopara girl lands in ICU after private tutor slaps her under ear

Deepika Patel, a Class 5 student, has been admitted to the ICU of the KJ Somaiya Hospital in Sion with severe brain injury and respiratory failure

MUMBAI: For the past eight days, 10-year-old Deepika Patel from Nalasopara has been fighting for her life after her teacher hit her under her ear during tuition classes.

10-year-old girl lands in ICU after teacher slaps her under ear

Deepika, a Class 5 student, has been admitted to the intensive care unit of the KJ Somaiya Hospital in Sion with severe brain injury, tetanus toxicity and respiratory failure, and is on mechanical ventilation.

On October 5, Deepika had gone for private tuition classes when her tutor, 20-year-old Ratna Singh, slapped her twice under her right ear because she was supposedly laughing and being mischievous, said her father, Ambadas Patel, 32, in his police complaint.

Deepika, whose ear began hurting, returned home and told her mother what had happened. Her mother then went to the tuition centre and confronted Singh, who told her that she slapped Deepika because she was disturbing other children, according to the complaint.

Her mother and Singh then took Deepika to the Balaji Clinic in Tulinj, where she was given medicines. When they returned home in the evening, Patel noticed swelling near Deepika’s ear. He then rushed her to the Sanjeevani Hospital, where she was admitted for a day. However, her face began swelling and Deepika was soon unable to even open her mouth.

“We had to keep a spoon between her lips to feed her water,” said Patel. For three days, Deepika was unable to eat or drink anything. That made her restless and we then took her to a government hospital in Mumbai. But since there were no ICU beds available, we admitted her to KJ Somaiya Hospital on October 13 through an acquaintance,” said 32-year-old Ambadas.

“She is undergoing treatment that costs around ₹25,000 per day. As we are not financially sound, we are asking for help from social organisations,” added Patel, who owns a general store in Oswal Nagar in Nalasopara East.

Patel approached the Tulinj police on Monday. Based on his complaint, an FIR was registered against Singh. “We have not received a single call from the tuition classes owner, and we want them to be booked for putting my daughter through hell,” he said.

Based on Patel’s statement, the Tulinj police station has registered a case against Singh under sections 125 (endangering life or personal safety of others) of the Bhartiya Nyaya Sanhita and Section 75 (cruelty to child) of the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act against Ratna Singh. “We have sent a notice to the concerned teacher, and further investigation is underway,” said sub-inspector Vinod Wayangankar of Tulinj Police Station.