Teacher forces Dalit boy to remove excreta

Namakkal: In a shocking incident of caste discrimination, a dalit boy, studying class 2 in a municipality middle school in Namakkal district was forced by his teacher to remove human excreta with bare hands on Thursday. 

 

This incident triggered tension as outraged members of dalit outfits gheraoed the school on Friday demanding action against the teacher for forcing the boy to perform the inhuman act. 

 

Based on a complaint from the boy’s father Veerasamy, Namakkal police arrested the teacher R. Vijayalakshmi who was also served with a suspension order by the education department. 

 

The teacher had forced the boy to remove and clean the excreta of fellow student, who attended nature’s call in the classroom itself.  As other students in the class room poked fun at the dalit boy, he felt humiliated and informed his parents on reaching home.

 

The boy had also told his parents that he wouldn’t go to school hereafter. As word spread about the incident, several parents refused to send their children to the school. 

 

Around 150 persons including parents, relatives of children and members of Dalit outfits gheraoed the school on Friday, demanding the arrest of the teacher. They also alleged that Vijayalakshmi had abused the boy by calling him by his caste name. 

 

A large number of police personnel was deployed in the school as a precautionary measure. Namakkal Superintendent of Police S.R. Senthil Kumar and RDO M. Kannan held talks with the protestors and promised action against the teacher. 

 

Police said Vijayalakshmi was arrested “under section 3(1) (10) SC/ST Prevention of Atrocities Act 1989” and was lodged in the Salem central prison. 

 

Students Federation of India (SFI) vice president A.T. Kannan said complaints had been raised against Vijayalakshmi three times earlier for ill treating students on caste grounds.