CHITRADURGA: The parents of a Class 6 student at a private school in Holakere have alleged that a teacher hit him so hard that the boy had to get five stitches on the head at the government hospital in the town. The boy was allegedly assaulted for setting fire to paper in a classroom of the residential school.
They boy’s family hails from Halebathi in Davanagere taluk. The victim Prabhu told Public TV, “The teacher Maheshwarappa hit me once and then hit me with a chair. I then felt dizzy and there was some bleeding. He then pushed me against a wall and I started bleeding heavily. He also stood on my thighs while holding my hands. He makes me pick up fallen coconuts and at times, asks me to climb the coconut trees and get him tender coconut. When ma’am had gone for Scouts and Guides training, he brought some wire and made me do some wiring”.
The boy’s mother Roja said, “Children make mistakes and they can be punished for it. Or else, the parents should be called and told that the school does not want to keep the child. How can they assault a child, will they take responsibility if something happens to my son? We work hard to put our children in good schools and pay hefty fees. They should treat our children as their own. How can they employ children for farm work and tell them not to inform the parents? For two days, they only put turmeric powder on the head injury and didn’t bother to take my son to a hospital. The school also discriminates children based on caste when it comes to providing food. What happened to my son should not happen to other children”.
As a medico-legal case was registered, the Holalkere police visited the boy in hospital and recorded his statement. Further investigation is under way.