Child returns home with bruises after punishment by teacher in Karnataka

The class 6 student was allegedly beaten with a stick for not completing an assignment

Parents of a class 6 student claimed that their son returned home with bruises on his back after allegedly being beaten by a teacher, at the Government Higher Primary School at Bandigadi in Koppa taluk of Chikkamagaluru district of Karnataka. The teacher has been posted to another school.

Shreyas, 12, was allegedly beaten by physical education instructor Nagaraj on June 1. The teacher had taken a Kannada language class on that day. He had instructed students to write a portion of the lesson. As Shreyas had not done the work, the teacher allegedly beat him with a stick. The physical education instructor had been handling the Kannada language for class 6 for some years as there had been a vacancy for that position.

The parents noticed marks on his back when the boy returned home in the evening. They complained to Block Education Officer Antony Raj. A local official was sent to their home the same evening for an enquiry. The BEO visited the school on June 2 and gathered details of the incident.

“The boy has suffered bruises. I am sending the teacher to a different school on deputation, besides sending a report to senior officers for further action,” Antony Raj, the BEO, told The Hindu.