An eight-year-old class three student of a private school near Coles Park here was allegedly beaten up by the physical education teacher for using the washroom while class was in progress.
Recalling the incident, the boy’s mother — Maria Priya — said that her child returned home on February 11 from school with a bleeding nose and narrated the ordeal. The boy was taken to a hospital where he was treated. When the parents went to the school on Monday to file a complaint, the headmistress allegedly assured them that she would look into the matter.
But the teachers did not allow him inside the classroom and was allegedly made to stand outside the class from morning till afternoon (9 a.m. to 3.30 p.m.). Ms. Priya said the incident not only amounted to corporal punishment but also mental harassment to the child. He was also not allowed to sit for the class tests. The parents met the headmistress again, but were asked to pay the remaining ₹2,000 fee (of the total ₹10,000). “They even threatened to bar my son from attending school — only two months before the end of the academic year,” Ms. Priya said.
The parents of the boy then filed a complaint with the Bharati Nagar police on Tuesday seeking intervention for the child to be allowed to continue to study at least till the end of the year. However, when The Hindu contacted the police, they refused to acknowledge that they received such a complaint even though The Hindu has a copy of it.
No CCTV camera in school ‘where girl was shamed’
A team of officials from the Karnataka State Commission for Protection of Child Rights (KSCPCR) visited the school in which a five-year-old was reportedly shamed in the classroom, and found there were no CCTV cameras on the premises. “We have called for a meeting between the parents and the school staff on Thursday ... once we get both of them sitting across the table we will be able to get a clearer picture,” said Kripa Alva, chairperson, KSCPCR. She said there were conflicting reports on the incident from the schoolchildren and they could not get proper information as CCTV cameras were not installed on the premises. A team of policemen visited the school in plain clothes and conducted their investigation. However, they could not find concrete evidence to corroborate the claims made. According to guidelines issued nearly three years ago under the Karnataka Police Act, 1963, all schools are required to install CCTV cameras on their premises and in school vehicles. However, most private schools in the city continue to flout these guidelines. Thus, in events where the police need to conduct an investigation, they are unable to get any CCTV footage, say officials.
