Crime came to light after video shot by students went viral
The Chidambaram town police have arrested a teacher at the Nandanar Government Boys Higher Secondary School for flogging and kicking a Class XII student belonging to the Dalit community.
Though the crime took place on Wednesday, it came to light only on Thursday night after a video shot by the students went viral on social media.
The physics teacher, Subramanian, has been suspended, following a preliminary inquiry by District Adi-Dravidar and Tribal Welfare Officer P. Chellapandi.
The police said headmaster Guganathan was doing the rounds on Wednesday when he found a student not attending classes. He took the 17-year-old to the classroom and complained to Subramanian about it. The teacher enquired with the student and allegedly caned him. As the teacher got hold of the student’s hair and started flogging and kicking him, a few students took out their phones and shot videos.
The student sustained injuries on the thighs, and was admitted to the Rajah Muthaiah Medical College and Hospital at Chidambaram. Based on a complaint from the student, the police booked a case against the teacher under Sections 294 (b) (uttering obscenities), 323 (punishment for voluntarily causing hurt), 324 (voluntarily causing hurt by dangerous weapons or means) and 75 of the Juvenile Justice Act, read with the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act.
The teacher was arrested and remanded in judicial custody.
Official sources said a team, led by Mr. Chellapandi, conducted an inquiry and found that Subramanian had assaulted and kicked the student. While in the class, the student asked permission from Subramanian to go and bring his practical notebook. However, he went and joined seven other students who did not attend the class. The headmaster took the eight students to the classroom. While the teacher caned seven students and admitted them into the classroom, he flogged the Dalit boy and kicked him for lying to him. This was found during the inquiry.
Courtesy : The HINDU
Note: This news piece was originally published in thehindu.com and use purely for non-profit/non-commercial purposes exclusively for Human Rights objectives.
