Torture and humiliation of students by teachers is not new and strict laws have been made to stop this; however, this is still practiced by many teachers and for the same, we often stumble upon incidents when an innocent student becomes a victim of torment. Sometimes, it takes such a horrible form that students even commit suicide because of the harassment and its resultant embarrassment that they had to go through in front of the whole class.
In a shameful and disgusting incident, a little girl of six who studies in the second standard in Thane’s Gyanoday Vidyamandir was atrociously treated by Rekha Nair, her class teacher, who gave the child a scar for the whole lifetime when she pulled out her hair as a mark of punishment just because her fees was not paid. The incident took place on Monday and the amount of fee is surprisingly just Rs. 4,000. Can she imagine what she has done to the girl for a meager amount? The pain of the suffering may end in some days but the mental trauma with which the girl had gone through might horrify her for the rest of her life.
Scarred with a fist-sized bald spot, she told her father about the appalling happening only when he insisted her to tell the reason of not going to the school the next day. The little girl’s description of Rekha grabbing her hair, shaking and screaming at her was something which could give goosebumps to any parent.
This naturally enraged Akhilesh Gupta, father of the victim, who instantly moved to the school and asked authorities to take appropriate action against Rekha Nair.
Here’s what he told Times Of India on Friday,
“My daughter, Prachi, was crying at the mention of the idea of going to school. I was shocked when she told me what happened. I have a small photo studio in Indira Nagar area and my wife is a housewife. I immediately gathered whatever savings I had, paid the fees and reported the incident to the principal. I could see my daughter shaking with fear when the teacher, Rekha Nair, entered the principal’s cabin. My daughter still cannot get over the incident and has not gone to school until today.”
Akhilesh further said,
“Even though the teacher has been suspended, there is no serious action taken against her or the management. I have been pursuing the matter and will not rest till my daughter is given justice.”
Nevertheless, the authorities of the school said that it’s a serious case and they would be investigating the matter thoroughly.
As per the school’s secretary, RN Tiwari,
“We have always told our teachers not to hit the students as punishment, and about how corporal punishment is against the law. The teacher has been suspended for a week. We have asked her for her response to the incident in written. If this response is not acceptable, we will terminate her position at the school.”
The girl’s father made an attempt of filing an FIR with the local police; however, the officers denied registering a case, saying that the matter should been solved with the school internally.
In his words,
“I was going to register an FIR at the Vartak Nagar police station but two police officials there refused to file the complaint saying that the matter should be resolved internally between the school and me. I want to pursue this case and ensure that the teacher, as well as the management, gets their due for assaulting my six-year-old daughter.”
When Times Of India got in touch with Vartak Nagar police, they said that they were not aware of it and didn’t receive any complaint.
According to educational activists, management of the school is equally responsible in this case in view of the fact that it pressurizes teachers for collecting fees. As per a Mumbai-based education activist, Jayant Jain,
“Collecting fees is not the responsibility of the teacher. While what the teacher did, in this case, was brutal and unacceptable, the management and the principal should also be questioned and charged for pressuring the teacher to an extent where she had to use force to get the class II student to ask her parents to pay her fees. This is a criminal act and police action is a must.”
What could be more sickening than such a brutal act with a little girl of six? Strict actions must be taken against all those who are responsible for it.
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