Schoolchildren allege corporal punishment, teacher arrested

AHMEDABAD: Two class II students of Islamic High School in Shahpur have alleged that a teacher beat them and subjected them to humiliation. The teacher was arrested after a complaint was lodged with Shahpur police.
According to Shahpur police, Aalia (name changed), a resident of Shahpur Mill compound, refused to go to school on Monday morning. She refused to say why but just stated that she did not want to face a teacher.Sensing trouble, the mother probed further and found that a teacher named Zeba Bano had beaten up Aalia and another girl in front of the class and threatened to strip them if they didn't improve their handwriting.
"Aalia's parents informed the other girl's parents who confirmed the incident. Enraged, they contacted other guardians and marched to the school to make a representation. They demanded punitive action against the teacher. When they did not get the desired response, they approached us," said a Shahpur police official.
Cops said that many other parents also complained about ill treatment of their children at the same school. When TOI contacted Iqbal Patel, principal of the school, he denied all the allegations and said that the girls were merely threatened by the teacher. "Neither were they beaten up nor locked in a toilet as claimed by the parents of the girls," said Patel.
S B Gohil, inspector of Shahpur police station, told TOI that they arrested Zeba Bano on Monday evening. "She has been arrested for the corporal punishment and will be in police custody for questioning in the matter," he said.