The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has issued notice to the Primary Education Secretary of the Gujarat government on media reports which stated that the students of Riverdale School in Surat were asked to walk on burning coal and broken glass pieces to “build their confidence.”
The factual report should be sent within four weeks.
The NHRC, which took up the April 20 incident suo motu, observed that if the contents of the press report were true, it raised a serious issue of the violation of children's human rights and their physical torture.
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Reports quoted school officials describing the challenges set at a summer camp as “important exercises that will make a child strong and determined.”
Eighty children aged 9-14 walked on hot coal, while 110 students walked over broken glass pieces. No one suffered any injuries, the school authorities said.