Shimla shocker: Dalit student abused in school; beaten for months, scorpion forced into pants
Shimla, Himachal Pradesh: Three teachers, including the headmaster of a government primary school in Shimla district, have been booked for allegedly assaulting an eight-year-old Dalit student and placing a scorpion inside his pants, police said on Sunday.
The child, a Class 1 student at Government Primary School in Khaddapani under Rohru sub-division, was allegedly subjected to frequent physical abuse for almost a year by headmaster Devendra and teachers Babu Ram and Kritika Thakur, according to a complaint filed by his father.
The father said the continuous beatings caused the boy’s ear to bleed and damaged his eardrum. He further alleged that the teachers took the child to the school toilet and “placed a scorpion in his pants.”
Following the complaint, police registered a case under Sections 127(2) (wrongful confinement), 115(2) (voluntarily causing hurt), 351(2) (criminal intimidation), and 3(5) (criminal acts in furtherance of common intent) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, along with provisions of the Juvenile Justice Act for cruelty against a child.
The accused teachers have also been charged under the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act for acts “derogatory to human dignity” and offences targeting a member of the Scheduled Caste.
Police said a communication has been sent to senior officials to decide whether the case should be investigated by a gazetted officer.
According to the father, the teachers threatened the boy not to reveal anything at home, warning that “they would have him arrested” if he spoke.
He added that on October 30, headmaster Devendra allegedly threatened to expel the child and told the family they would face severe consequences if the matter became public, saying, “We will burn you.”
The father said he was also warned against filing a police complaint or posting about the incident on social media, or he would have to “wash his hands of life.”
The complainant further alleged that teacher Kritika Thakur’s husband, Nitish Thakur, has been taking her place and “illegally teaching students at the school for the last one year.”
He also accused the teachers of caste-based discrimination, claiming that Nepali and Harijan students were made to sit separately from Rajput students during meals.
This is not the first such incident reported from Rohru. Last week, a teacher from Government Primary School in Gawana was suspended for allegedly beating a student with a prickly bush. Earlier, a 12-year-old Dalit boy in Limda village of Rohru died by suicide after some upper-caste women allegedly locked him inside a cowshed for entering their house.