Tamil Nadu: PT teacher held for corporal punishment

Madurai: A physical education teacher of a private school, Shri Maharishi Vidya Mandir, Dindigul, has been arrested on the charge of beating up a student on Saturday.

Nine-year-old Aakash, studying class IV in the school at Seelapadi near Dindigul, was beaten up by the teacher Dinesh with a wooden stick for, of all reasons, going to the toilet without informing his class teacher, who had asked the boy to stand outside the classroom as punishment for not completing his home work, said a police officer. 

Aakash had taken five days leave and had earned his teacher’s displeasure when he returned to school without completing his home work. But it took a serious turn when the boy did not inform his class teacher before going to the toilet, the school authorities informed the police during the investigation of the case.

After Aakash told his parents about the flogging by the physical education teacher, his advocate-father Prathap approached the school correspondent Nalini to complain against the teacher, but did not receive  proper response from her, said the police officer. A disappointed father of the boy then filed a complaint at Dindigul taluk police station. During police investigation, the physical education teacher Dinesh admitted that he had beaten up the student as a disciplinary action. 

The police registered a case against the teacher Dinesh under section 82 of Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015, sections 322 (voluntarily causing grievance hurt) and 324 (voluntarily causing grievance hurt by means of any instruments), besides section 294 (b) (sings, recites or utters any obscene ballad or words, in or near any public place) of IPC and remanded him under judicial custody. The police also booked cases against the school correspondent Nalini, principal Senha, and the concerned class teacher Malika in connection with the incident.