Teacher brands 8 students with camphor, suspended

June 11, 2016 01:03 am | Updated October 18, 2016 02:07 pm IST - VILLUPURAM:

An official of the Education department questioning the teacher in connection with the incident.

An official of the Education department questioning the teacher in connection with the incident.

In a gruesome incident, a teacher of a government primary school at Pali in Ulundurpet punished eight children studying in classes IV and V on Thursday by placing burning camphor on their feet for being inattentive in the class.

The shocking incident came to light on Friday after parents of the affected children raised slogans in front of the school. They urged the school authorities to take stern action against the teacher who meted out the inhuman punishment.

School headmaster C. Varadarajan pacified the parents and arranged to shift the students to a hospital.

Chief Educational Officer S. Mars suspended the teacher Vyjantimala and the school headmaster. The CEO has initiated an investigation. The teacher meted out the punishment to Santhosh Raj, Subbulakshmi, Preetha, Harikrishnan, Pugazhendi and Kousalya, studying in Class IV, Anitha and Rajasekaran, studying in Class V.

‘My son was traumatised’

Vanitha, mother of Pugazhendi, said that the teacher should have informed the parents instead of punishing the children in such an inhuman manner. “My son is so traumatised that he is refusing to go to school now,” she said.

When contacted, the school headmaster said, “I came to know about the incident only on Friday as I was on leave for the past few days. The teacher Vyjantimala has been working in the school for the past 11 years and this is the first time a complaint of such a grave nature has been made against her.” Meanwhile, the Edaikkal police have arrested the teacher. She was produced before a local court and remanded to custody.

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