Police on Friday claimed to have arrested the teacher from north Kashmir who posted a two-and-a-half minute video of a school-boy being harassed by him that went viral on social networks.
The video, showing the boy crying continuously as the teacher puts pressure on him to memorise alphabets, had left the Valley shocked, with people demanding stern punishment for the teacher. The clip was posted online a about a month ago. HT had done a story on it on January 17.
Police on Friday claimed that they have identified the teacher who made the fun of the child with impaired speech.
The victim is a resident of Khundkareem, Watergam in north Kashmir, and enrolled in a local, government-run primary school.
The accused teacher has been identified as Sajad Ahmad War, working on a contractual basis at the school.
“We have identified and arrested the teacher and are investigating the case. More will be revealed soon,” said SP Sopore Abdul Qayoom.
{{/usCountry}}“We have identified and arrested the teacher and are investigating the case. More will be revealed soon,” said SP Sopore Abdul Qayoom.
{{/usCountry}}The teacher was seen threatening the child with corporal punishment in case he fails to speak aloud. The child, with visible speech impairment, was seen constantly being pressurised to recall alphabets and counting while the teacher and the rest of the class makes fun of him.
A few months ago, a similar video showed a kindergarten student being mercilessly beaten by a teacher, while being mounted on another child’s back.
The father of the victim, whose identity has not been revealed, told local media that the child is reluctant to go to school as “people tease him showing him the video clip”.
The state government and the state teachers’ association had demanded an inquiry against the teacher. The Jammu and Kashmir Private Schools’ United Front has demanded an immediate inquiry into the recent surfacing of videos on social media wherein teachers seem to be tormenting junior children by subjecting them to various forms of corporal punishment.
The front said that it was a shame for the state education sector where such crude methods of punishment went unnoticed.