Classes had just commenced after the morning prayers at the school in Hosa Guddadahalli when parents of the sexually abused girl student and 10 men barged into the institution demanding action against the perpetrator of the crime.
The mob soon tracked the physical education teacher, Ramakrishna, the suspect in the case, and started thrashing him. He ran into a room where a class was in progress, and locked himself up there. But soon the mob broke open the door and attacked him again, even as a group of around 30 frightened children watched.
The school management added to the chaos by calling off the classes for the day. Children, especially those from lower primary classes, were clueless what was happening. As soon as the classes were called off, they came on to the street and were caught in the crossfire between the violent mob and police. Many children were heard crying as they did not find their respective parents to take them home.
That was when friendly neighbours came to their rescue. Women residents of houses in the densely populated residential locality took crying children to their homes and gave them shelter till the parents of the children came to pick them up. Amina Bi, a class 2 student, told The Hindu : “Many people came into my class when English teacher was taking the class. Then the teacher took us all out of the school and took us to a nearby house. I saw my school burning and Ramakrishna sir being beaten up.”
In the meanwhile, parents had a tough time reaching their children as the stand-off between the protesters and the police was threatening to go out of hand. Salman, father of a class 1 student, was seen making desperate appeals to the media and police to help him spot his son. Later, using a microphone police announced the boy’s details. Soon after that, a neighbour who had given shelter to the boy brought him out and was reunited with his father. Just like Salman, many other parents also spent some anxious hours before they were reunited with their children.
