Corporal punishment: Panipat school principal, driver arrested

The principal of a private school and a cab driver have been arrested for allegedly beating up a child after hanging him upside down. The members of the Child Welfare Committee (CWC) also visited the school and counselled the victim.

Taking a stringent note over the issue, Justice Lalit Batra, Chairman, Haryana Human Rights Commission (HHRC), along with members Kuldip Jain and Deep Bhatia, and Dr Puneet Arora, Protocol-cum-Information Officer arrived at Panipat in the evening and met SP Bhupender Singh, ADC Dr Pankaj Yadav and Education Department officials.

The parents of children, who were beaten up by the principal, also demanded action against her. The department sent a notice to the school and shut it down.

The department had put up a notice on the school gate for closure around four months ago. The notice mentioned that the school was running without any valid affiliation and recognition from any government board or department, hence it was shut with immediate effect on May 30. The school management, however, continued to run it.

The ADC, SP, District Education Officer (DEO) Rakesh Boora and District Elementary Education Officer (DEEO) Subhash Chander Bhardwaj visited the school today.

The DEEO said a team visited the school in the morning and found a teacher and 11 children there. The school was later sealed.

Though the incident took place in August, the parents came to know about it on Saturday when a video of the assault went viral. Another video showed the principal slapping two other children.

The accused were produced before the court, which sent them to two-day police remand. Education Minister Mahipal Dhanda said strict legal action would be initiated against them.

The SP said a special investigation team, headed by DSP (Headquarters) Satish Vats has been formed to probe the matter. “Such violence against children will not be tolerated at any cost,” he said.