Assistant teacher suspended for assaulting students in Mayurbhanj school

Bhubaneswar: An assistant teacher at an upper primary school in Mayurbhanj district was suspended on Friday after she allegedly thrashed 31 students with a bamboo stick for not touching her feet after the morning prayers.Officials said the assistant teacher had reached the school late on Thursday and, while taking classes, questioned the students of classes VI, VII and VIII why they had not shown her respect after the prayer session.When some children admitted they had not done so, she allegedly assaulted them with a bamboo stick. Several students were injured, with one boy suffering a fracture in his hand, while a girl became unconscious and was taken to a nearby hospital.Block education officer (Betnoti), Biplab Kar, said, “After getting complaints on Thursday afternoon, I visited the school. I interacted with students of classes VI, VII and VIII as well as with the teacher. Students narrated the whole incident and said the teacher asked them who did not touch her feet after the prayers. Students said that subsequently the teacher started beating them mercilessly.”“The teacher was unhappy with the students of classes VI, VII and VIII and alleged that they made fun of her,” the BEO said.On Friday, parents and members of the school management committee (SMC) gheraoed the school, demanding her removal and threatened to lock the premises if action was not taken. The headmaster immediately alerted Kar, who suspended the teacher. “Schools have been declared corporal punishment-free zones, and we must make the environment in schools fear-free,” said Kar.