Mumbai student in hospital after forced to do 200 sit-ups, martial arts coach booked

On February 8, the seven students were being mischievous and in order to teach them a lesson, Mani Chaudhary, the coach, allegedly took them to the terrace of St Willibrords Innovative School and forced them to do 200 sit-ups.

A martial arts coach contracted with a Nalla Sopara school was booked on Monday for allegedly forcing seven students to perform 200 sit-ups as punishment for misbehaving. One of them, a Class 6 student, developed a fever and knee pain, and had to be admitted to a hospital.

The martial arts coach of a Mumbai school was fired after he made some students do 200 sit-ups for being mischievous. (Getty Images/ Representative Image)

On February 8, the seven students were being mischievous and in order to teach them a lesson, Mani Chaudhary, the coach, allegedly took them to the terrace of St Willibrords Innovative School and forced them to do 200 sit-ups. “My son is now receiving treatment at Rakiya Hospital, Nalla Sopara (West) for muscle pain and according to doctors, he will be discharged in a few days,” said the mother of one of the boys.

“The boys were being naughty, as is typical of children their age, but that does not mean the coach should punish them this way. Will the said coach do 200 sit-ups himself?” she added.

“We have registered a complaint under section 75 [cruelty to child] of the Juvenile Justice Act, 2015, against Chaudhary. No arrest has been made so far,” said police inspector Daniel Bane of Tulinj police station.

Willibrord George, trustee of the school, said that the coach was fired following the incident.

“He will no longer get employment in any of our schools across Maharashtra. The coach was on contract and is not our staffer. We only learned about the incident on February 11 when the FIR was registered and I personally visited the hospital where the child is admitted,” said George.

“The school management has deposited ₹10,000 with the hospital for the boy’s treatment and we will also bear the cost of the medicines needed,” he added.