Chennai: A differently-abled student, Raghavaraj, who was allegedly thrashed by a teacher for eating dinner outside, died here last week after lying in coma for over a year.
Parents, students and members of the Association for the Deaf on Wednesday staged a protest at Chepauk seeking removal of the teacher and sought compensation for the boy’s family.
Raghavaraj was studying in plus-2 in CSI higher secondary school for the deaf. On August 10, 2014, he and four other students went outside to have dinner.
When they were caught by the then headmaster in-charge Sahila Jancy, Raghavaraj alone complained that the food served in the hostel was in poor quality.
The students alleged that after an argument, Sahila Jancy and her husband Mageshdevan, who was also staying with her at the school campus, hit Raghavaraj with logs.
“After this incident, our boy who was talking partially till then, complained that he had giddiness. Within a week, he lost eye sight and fell ill. Slowly his left hand and legs were paralysed. In two months, he slipped into coma,” says Lakshmipathy, father of Raghavaraj, who is working as a car driver.
“He was treated at Rajiv Gandhi Government Hospital and some other private hospitals too. But he did not recover. The teacher and her husband are responsible for what has happened to him.
“They also confiscated the mobile sim card of his latest phone in a separate incident. They threatened him with the sim card. She should be removed from the school,” demanded Mohana, one of Raghavaraj’s relatives.
The school conducted an inquiry into the incident and Sahila Jancy was suspended pending enquiry.
Students who were accompanying Raghavaraj gave a report that Sahila Nancy and her husband hit the student. But, after receiving the medical report, the management reinstated her.
