Axe on three JNV students for beating up junior

LOHARDAGA: Jawahar Navodaya Vidhyalaya (JNV) has suspended three Class XI students for 15 days for beating up a Class VII boy accusing him of stealing a cellphone.
Principal R K P Gupta punished the three students after victim Harsh Raj's parents approached deputy commissioner (DC) Ratan Kumar who is also on the school's management committee.
Taking strong objection for violating disciplinary rules of the school, the DC asked the principal to take action against the three."I have suspended the guilty boys for 15 days. On their return, they will have to sign a bond. Similar mistake will send them out of school for ever," said principal Gupta.
Raj was accused of stealing a cellphone by six migratory students who are from Jammu & Kashmir. According to the tradition of a migration programme, students are sent to other state JNVs to study for a certain period. As per the norms, migration is for Class IX students only. The six were allowed living with Class VII students in the school hostel. The guest students were provided with a mobile phone on Sunday to talk to their parents by the house in-charge in the school. The mobile phone went missing and Raj was blamed for it.
"I did not take their mobile phone, still the guest students made a false complaint to the senior students of Class XI who beat up me brutally on Sunday night," said Raj. The student had been to the DC's office here on Tuesday with his parents to lodge a complaint after they were not satisfied with the principal's action.
Raj, who was threatened by the senior students not to tell the incident to anyone, tried to hide it by taking pain killers from the school but he narrated the incident to his parents next day. The parents have decided not to send their ward to school now. Raj had marks of the assault on the back and face.
Local people alleged that indiscipline prevailed in JNV as senior students are seen in a nearby market in the evening on week days. However, the school administration denied the charge.