E-Paper
Outcry over communal beating in UP classroom; police book teacher
As outrage poured in from all quarters, the accused teacher in her defence claimed that the video has been tampered with in order to “stoke tensions”.
Meerut The Uttar Pradesh Police on Saturday registered a case against a private schoolteacher accused of making communal comments and encouraging her students to slap their Muslim classmate for not being able to recite a multiplication table in Muzaffarnagar district, officers said.
A video of the incident — which police said occurred at Neha Public Schoo,l run from a private home in Khubbapur village — has been widely shared on social media since Friday.
In the 34-second clip, the teacher, identified as Tripta Tyagi, can be seen sitting on her chair while asking her students to slap the Class 2 boy. She is also heard saying that children of a certain faith whose parents do not pay attention to their education should be taught a lesson.
“A case has been registered against the teacher under sections 323 (punishment for voluntarily causing hurt) and 504 (intentional insult) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) based on the complaint of the boy’s father,” said Satyanarayan Prajapat, Muzaffarnagar (city) superintendent of police (SP).
To be sure, the sections invoked in the case at present do not pertain to communal harmony. Other sections will be included in the case on the basis of the findings of the investigation, the SP said, adding that prima facie the teacher’s intention “did not seem mala fide”.
As outrage poured in from all quarters, the accused teacher in her defence claimed that the video has been tampered with in order to “stoke tensions”. “I made a mistake by getting the child beaten up by fellow students. I am handicapped and could not get up, so I asked the students to slap the child,” Tyagi said in a statement.
District magistrate Arvind Malappa Bangari said that a team of child welfare committee was sent to the boy’s house for counselling. “Basic Shiksha Adhikari (basic education officer) has been directed to conduct an enquiry into the case,” the DM said.
Meanwhile, talking to HT over the phone, the boy’s father said his two sons studied at the school. “I have decided to withdraw both of them and send them to some other school,” he said. HT has voluntarily withdrawn his name so as not to reveal the identity of the Class 2 boy.
The victim recalled how the teacher told his classmates to hit him. “Mohammedan (Muslim) hai, zor se maaro (he is a Muslim, hit harder),” he quoted the teacher as saying. Asked why she did so, the boy said, “I don’t know”
The state’s education department also served the notice to the school in connection with the matter. Shubham Shukla, the Basic Shiksha Adhikari of the district, said a show cause notice has been served to the school management and asked its response by August 28 as to why the government recognition of the school not be cancelled.
The incident elicited widespread condemnation from across sections, with several opposition parties targeting the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) for allegedly sowing “politics of hate”.
“Sowing the poison of discrimination in the minds of innocent children, turning a holy place like school into a marketplace of hatred — nothing worse a teacher can do for the country,” senior Congress leader Rahul Gandhi posted on X, formerly twitter, on Friday. “This is the same kerosene spread by the BJP which has set every corner of India on fire. Children are the future of India – we all have to teach them love not hatred.”
Samajwadi Party (SP) president and former Uttar Pradesh CM Akhilesh Yadav demanded the teacher be sacked immediately, and called her a “blot on teacher society”. Rashtriya Lok Dal chief Jayant Chaudhary spoke to the father of the boy and assured him of justice.
Pilibhit BJP MP Varun Gandhi termed the incident shameful. “The feeling of hatred towards a child in the temple of knowledge has made the whole country hang its head in shame. A teacher is a gardener who not only builds a personality but also a nation by putting fertiliser in the form of knowledge in the primary rites,” he posted on X. “So, the expectations from a teacher are high beyond dirty politics. It is a question of the future of the country.”
Senior BJP leader and state’s deputy CM Brajesh Pathak said the government has taken a “serious note” of the incident and an FIR has been registered.
“In the state, everyone has the right to the same level of education and ensuring this is the job and the priority of our government. The police are probing the incident and further action will be taken once the investigation is complete,” Jaiveer Singh, Uttar Pradesh tourism minister, said.
Prominent Muslim organisation Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind also called for stringent legal action against the teacher.
“I urge you to address the aforementioned incident and initiate legal proceedings against the perpetrator under the Child Rights, Human Rights, Educational Rights, and Prevention of Bias Acts. Furthermore, I request you to promptly instruct the concerned district administration to refrain from attempting to downplay this grave matter,” Jamiat chief Maulana Mahmood Madani wrote in a letter to chief minister Yogi Adityanath, Union women and child development minister Smriti Irani, national child rights body, among others.
(With agency inputs)
