A school teacher has been booked for assaulting and making casteist remarks against a 12-year-old Dalit student in Punjab’s Jalandhar, who allegedly tried to commit suicide after being tricked into drinking urine by his classmates.
A case was registered on Tuesday under Section 323 (voluntary causing hurt) of the Indian Penal Code and Section 3 (1) of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act at Navi Baradari police station.
The Class 8 student is being treated in a private hospital for fractures on both his legs after he jumped off the third floor of his house following the incident in a private school last Friday, a police officer said.
The boy’s mother said in her complaint to the police that her son was beaten up by Shinki Sharma, who also made a casteist slur, on Friday after he informed her about the alleged urine-drinking incident.
The mother said some of her son’s classmates filled his water bottle with urine and insulted him in the classroom.
“Even the school staff insulted me when I took up the matter with them, forcing him to take this extreme step,” she said.
{{/usCountry}}“Even the school staff insulted me when I took up the matter with them, forcing him to take this extreme step,” she said.
{{/usCountry}}“We will send the student’s water bottle to a laboratory to ascertain whether students had filled urine in it. We will also question the students to probe the role of the teacher,” assistant commissioner of police (ACP) Dalbir Singh Butter said.
The Scheduled Caste Commission on Tuesday directed the police to complete the probe into the suicide attempt by the 12-year-old oy by August 28 and submit the report to it.
Raj Kumar Hans, a member of the commission, visited the school as well as the hospital where he is undergoing treatment on Tuesday.
Hans accused the school authorities of not taking the case seriously.