PATNA: The teacher accused of mercilessly beating up a seven-year-old girl for not bringing the pen and textbook to school was suspended on Saturday. The state education department had ordered a probe into the incident at government primary school in Piparhiya Nauka Tola under Macchha panchayat of Bhitha block in West Champaran district. The district education office sent the probe report to the department.
The accused teacher, Prakash Chandra Pathak, was absconding.
Education minister
Vijay Kumar Choudhary said the government can’t tolerate any teacher who beat the students. The incident took place on April 26, when Sufia Shaheed, a student of Class II, had forgotten to bring the pen and textbook to class. Pathak had allegedly thrashed the student with a wooden stick for that. Her condition deteriorated and she was taken to the hospital.
The victim’s parents had lodged a complaint against the teacher with Bhitha police outpost. Jumani Khatoon, the girl’s mother, said her daughter was brought home in a bad condition. “For last three days, she has been writhing in pain. She gets scared on hearing the word school,” she said.
SHO Shahid Anwar Ansari said a complaint was lodged on the statement of Sufia’s mother on April 27. “The teacher is absconding. The police are conducting raids to nab the accused,” he said.
West Champaran district education officer Rajnikant Praveen told TOI that the probe report was sent to the additional chief secretary (education). “A team has been sent to the primary school for investigation. Teachers there told that Pathak had beaten the girl with a wooden stick after she failed to respond to his queries. The girl had also forgotten to bring pen and scheduled books. The teacher asked her about the reasons, but she failed to answer. Angered by her silence, the teacher beat her up. We will be sending the suspension notice to his home and he will be dismissed from his service within a month,” he said.