KRISHNAGIRI: The parents of a girl student in Krishnagiri district alleged that their child was branded with hot iron by her teacher as punishment for being naughty. On Friday, 30-year-old Bhavani of Kakkadasam in Denkannikottai taluk called reporters to inform them about the corporal punishment given to her five-year-old daughter Miruthula. The girl studies in the anganwandi center of her village run by the State government as part of the ‘Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS)’, a Government India programme to combat hunger and malnutrition among children.
According to her mother Bhavani, the girl was branded by the anganwadi caretaker Seetha for being naughty in the center. She also showed the injury caused by the branding on the girl’s left leg. However, the center's caretaker refuted the charges leveled against her by Bhavani and told the media that she was not in the anganwadi center on Friday because Seetha was asked to give ‘Nilavembu’ herbal concoction to the villagers in fighting dengue.
