Hyderabad: Director, principal, teacher arrested for thrashing kid
Hyderabad: A teacher, principal and director of Krishnaveni Talent School in Hyderabad's BN Reddy Nagar were arrested by Meerpet police station after parents and child activists lodged a complaint over a four-year-old boy being beaten up. Director Gopal Reddy, principal Padmaja Raj and teacher Swaroopa were arrested on Tuesday after a nursery student Nikhil was allegedly beaten up by teacher Swaroopa for a delay in payment of fees as his parents were hard-pressed for money. According to his parents, Nikhil was thrashed by her teacher all over his back and legs with a long stick.
A video shared by child rights activists showed the boy wincing and crying as his parent’s filmed the bruises on his body, and touched the red marks because of the beatings. This incident would traumatise the child for a long time, they said. “The school should be closed as it failed to provide care and protection to the child,’’ said Balala Hakkula Sangham president Achyuta Rao, who lodged the complaint against the school along with the child’s parents.
Sub-Inspector A. Raju said, “We received the complaint on Monday from the father, Jala Shanker, who works as plumber, stating that his son was beaten by the school teacher for not paying the fees on time. Based on this, we have booked a complaint against the school management and arrested the principal, director and teacher from the Krishnaveni Talent School. Three of them have been sent in judicial remand.”
Hundreds hit the road in protest
Angry family members, activists and hundreds of student leaders staged a protest outside the Krishnaveni Talent school premises in BN Reddy Nagar on Tuesday morning, as the boy received severe injuries. Members of Student Federation of India raised slogans against the school and demanded the arrest of the teacher and the school management.Apart from the student leaders, even members of the Hyderabad School Parents Associations (HSPA) raised voices against corporal punishments, mainly because of school fees.
Mr Pavan Reddy, member, Hyderabad School Parents Associations (HSPA), said, “Those who committed this crime are not at all fit to be called humans. I deplore the absolute indifferent attitude of the education department officials and the state government who failed miserably in protecting the basic rights of children and parents.”