A court in West Bengal’s Birbhum district on Monday granted bail to the warden of a hostel of Visva Bharati University in Santiniketan after she was arrested for allegedly forcing a class V student of Patha Bhavan to drink her own urine as punishment for wetting her bed.
The court condemned the incident and criticised the police for booking the accused under bailable charges. It also asked why the accused was not booked under the Juvenile Justice Act. It directed that the warden bear the medical expenses of the girl student who fell ill after the incident on Saturday.
The parents had lodged a complaint against Uma Poddar, the warden of Karabi Hostel of Patha Bhavan, alleging that she had cruelly punished their daughter after she wet her bed on Saturday.
“The warden was arrested on Monday morning following a complaint by the parents of the student. She was produced before a court and was later granted bail,” Rishikesh Meena, Superintendent of Police said.
Ms. Poddar was booked under sections 341, 269 and 270 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) for wrongful detention and negligent and malignant acts likely to spread infection of disease dangerous to life. All the sections are bailable.
A complaint was also lodged against the parents by the University authorities for allegedly attacking the warden. They were also arrested and later granted bail during the day.
Meanwhile, the University authorities claimed that the child was not asked to drink her urine but lick the wet mattress of her bed.
“The warden told the student so only to terrify her. Moreover, it is a kind of superstitious practice aimed at curing bedwetting. We, however, do not endorse it,” Vice Chancellor of the University Sushanta Dutta Gupta said.
Ms. Poddar has been removed from active duty. Asked about the arrest of the parents, the university authorities said they had only informed the police about the attack on the warden. It was the police who took follow-up action.
In a related development, a group of lawyers filed a Public Interest Litigation petition at the Calcutta High Court seeking action against those who had violated the rules framed by the Court on corporal punishment.
hi,
i am an ex student of pathabhavana and also Karabi hostel..Uma di was
my warden for more than 3 years...and i was in touch with uma di from
my class 3 to class 12th...And the students of Karabi (present or ex)
are well known that what is uma di's nature..She was just like our
mom..She cannot do such kind of things..I want to request the cops
please do the proper investigation and find out the real kalprit..UMA
di is totally innocent. we all students of patha-bhavana who lived
with umadi are protesting this blame on uma di...
This shows the arrogance and misuse of authority & power provided to the
post by people holding it.This may be just one case came into light,may
be there would be thousands unreported incidents in the country.We
should not forget one thing to respect all humans then only the
society,will become tolerant and justice will prevail.
Licking or Drinking watever the cruelty is shown on her name. What the fifth standard girl knows the Pros and cons, should be advised at this age. The warden is a devil and how the VC can support this activity for the warden.I don't hope so anyone will join the institution after this shameful incident.
As they said is it a method to follow? Are they practising Good things or supersititous believes in their school.
These Cops should be suspended and should be sent back to take education and training before entering into the role of Police. The warden should be dismissed from her duty and Vice chancellor should be expelled from the university for 1)Letting Warden go beyond her duties 2)Supporting the Criminal Warden after the crime practice and doing false claims over the Child's parent.
All superiors of the warden should be made accountable for appointing her as a warden. The management has failed to select a right person to act a warden. Hence, the management should also be pulled up by the court for not appointing a suitable person as a warden. Again and again it is reiterated that responsibility along with accountability should be fixed with every senior posts in India. Only then authorities will appoint a meritorious/right persons and then they be pro-active. Our bad culture of reactive attitude should be replaced with pro-active culture.
the Vice Chancellor of the University Sushanta Dutta Gupta is a renowned
researcher and educationists having degrees from India and west. He says
it is a natural therapy for bed wetting. There is some serious problem
wit what we call education...
Rajeev Iyer sir, I agree with NAGA. If you read BAIL FOR SALE scams in AP, then you will realize about the Judges also corrupted.
Mr. Naga (reference your comment of July 9th 16:47IST) why are you blaming the court? Have you not read the article. The court can only act on the basis of the chargesheet and the available laws. She has been booked only on bailable charges. So you should be blaming the concerned cops who booked her on lenient terms. Did you not read the article? The court itself has asked the same question. you should first be taught a lesson on law. Then perhaps if you are interested you can join the legislature and re-write the laws?
One can understand that you are angry that she seems to be out on bail, but that is not the fault of the court or the lawyer, please note. It is the fault of the Police.
"it is a kind of superstitious practice aimed at curing bedwetting. We, however, do not endorse it"
WoW! Vice Chancellor... can you please tell me if you would bear it when your daughter is given the same superstitious practice treatment by the same warden at your institution??
"The University authorities claimed that the child was not asked to drink her urine but lick the wet mattress of her bed!!"
Again wow!! i hope the same set of people who claimed so will accept if the same is done to them at their old age when they are helpless..
Its about a child's life and her self dignity and people play with it like this. Wake up people..the day is not too far when you will be paying for your crimes
she is not all a women . she is a devil.
She ought to removed with immediate effect and the punishment should be
like a lesson for the other who things they can get away with child
abuse. The Court has rightly said that she should have been booked under
Juvenile Justice Act.
This type of act make people afraid in sending their children even to
the reputed university. She must not just get away...
The incident might be the tip of an iceberg . We should try to explore
more about the treatment of kids / students in boarding schools . I
studied in a boarding school , although I had good wardens in my hostel
,there were wardens in other hostels ,who struck a terror image amongst
the hostel residents . If the incident happens in Shantiniketan , then
there are hundreds and thousands of boarding schools where children do
not open up fearing retribution .Very sad this happened in Shantiniketan
.
What an absurd comment from the University that 'the girl was not asked to drink her urine but lick the wet mattress'. No decent person in his/her right frame of mind would utter such nonsense. No amount of punishment can rectify the damage done to the poor soul
Why the girl fell sick?!!
Ex.PM Morarji Desai advocated Moraargin as a health drin!!
The act done by warden suggest that she doesn't have attributes of a good warden. Also if she thinks that she has done right then I think that she should be treated exactly the same when she would be too ill to leave the bed. About lawyers and judges i would say sometimes laws are made to bend infront of institutions ignoring the realities.
Few years back, I went to Gurudev's university as a pilgrim and I was in a different world
Altogether during that. Pandit JawahAharlal nehru made it a point not to miss the annual
Day celebrations at Shantniketan every year during his lifetime. The warden has spoiled
The image of this great educational centre in India by her arrogant behavior and she
Should be punished for having caused mental agony to a young girl and her family
members.
this is absurd.how could the court even think of giving bail to such a
person.if u ask me there should not be a case for that person they shoud
directly punish them . SUCH UNETHICAL PERSON ARE NOT FIT TO LIVE AMONG
HUMAN BEING LET ALONE BEING A WARDEN .. who is that lawyer and judge
who gave bail to the warden first they should be taught lesson .
''warden made the girl lick the bedsheet ''
what kind of filthy act is that, there has to be some limits to punishment, one should not loose his senses while correcting bad students
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