NHRC seeks comments on thrashing of schoolboy by teacher
New Delhi, 29 March 2005
The National Human Rights Commission has taken suo-motu cognizance of a report which featured in a national newspaper dated 12 March 2005 stating that the backbone of Sahil Bansal, a student of class VI at the local Government School at Goniana, Bathinda, Punjab was allegedly damaged by a Hindi teacher on 7 March 2005 when the student was thrashed mercilessly by the teacher for not sitting in the class properly.
It has directed that a copy of the news story be sent to the Principal Secretary, Education Department, Government of Punjab and SSP, Bathinda, Punjab to look into the allegations contained in it and submit their comments within two weeks.
The news story said the teacher has denied the allegation while the guardian of the student has alleged that the teacher had beaten the student without any reason, resulting in damaged to the schoolboy's backbone. It further reported that Sahil was now finding it difficult to walk or sit for a long time. The report quoted the Principal of the school as stating that the incident has affected the image of the school and had brought a bad name to the teaching community. It was stated that the Principal was making efforts to bring about a compromise between the teacher and the guardian and that no complaint had been lodged with him. The Principal was also quoted as saying that his enquiry revealed that the boy was only chided and not thrashed. The news story said that the guardian had lodged a complaint at Nehianwala Police Station and a report had been registered in the DDR while the medical report of the boy mentioned that his backbone had got injured.
The Commission has observed that if the contents of the report are true, it raises a serious issue of violation of human rights.
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The National Human Rights Commission has taken suo-motu cognizance of a report which featured in a national newspaper dated 12 March 2005 stating that the backbone of Sahil Bansal, a student of class VI at the local Government School at Goniana, Bathinda, Punjab was allegedly damaged by a Hindi teacher on 7 March 2005 when the student was thrashed mercilessly by the teacher for not sitting in the class properly.
It has directed that a copy of the news story be sent to the Principal Secretary, Education Department, Government of Punjab and SSP, Bathinda, Punjab to look into the allegations contained in it and submit their comments within two weeks.
The news story said the teacher has denied the allegation while the guardian of the student has alleged that the teacher had beaten the student without any reason, resulting in damaged to the schoolboy's backbone. It further reported that Sahil was now finding it difficult to walk or sit for a long time. The report quoted the Principal of the school as stating that the incident has affected the image of the school and had brought a bad name to the teaching community. It was stated that the Principal was making efforts to bring about a compromise between the teacher and the guardian and that no complaint had been lodged with him. The Principal was also quoted as saying that his enquiry revealed that the boy was only chided and not thrashed. The news story said that the guardian had lodged a complaint at Nehianwala Police Station and a report had been registered in the DDR while the medical report of the boy mentioned that his backbone had got injured.
The Commission has observed that if the contents of the report are true, it raises a serious issue of violation of human rights.
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