In Bengaluru, teachers are worried about children filling their water bottles with alcohol. One school in Tumakuru district, however, appears to have a problem that is the exact opposite, with teachers allegedly filling a water bottle with alcohol and giving it to students.
Two teachers and the headmaster of the Government High School at Bommala Devi Pura in Koratagere taluk were suspended by the authorities on Wednesday for allegedly giving liquor instead of water to their students while they were on a field trip. Along with their colleagues, they had taken students from classes eight, nine and 10 on a three-day educational excursion to coastal districts.
While they were returning on December 10 night, the bus was stopped near Belur in Hassan district for dinner. Some of the students had asked the teachers for water. However, according to reports, the teachers were allegedly inebriated and instead passed around a water bottle filled with alcohol.
According to School Development and Management Committee vice-president Ashwathnarayana, who received complaints from angry parents, around seven students had used the bottle. Some had an adverse reaction to alcohol as they had gulped it down assuming it was water.
'I vomited several times'
“I vomited several times. I don’t remember how I reached home,” said one student. His father, along with other parents, who complained to the SDMC said his son returned home in a terrible state. “He was not in a position to walk when he came home along with his teachers.”
Deputy Director of Public Instruction of Madhugiri educational district Ravishankar Reddy, who is probing the incident after he received a complaint on December 12, said he visited the school and that the teachers and the headmaster had been suspended for the duration of the inquiry.
