Chhattisgarh teacher hangs 5-year-old from tree to ‘discipline’ him

A teacher of a private school in Chhattisgarh’s Surajpur tried to "discipline" her five-year-old student by allegedly hanging him from a tree with a rope tied to his t-shirt, prompting the authorities to issue a show-cause notice to the institution's management, officials said on Tuesday.

The woman teacher involved in the incident that took place at a school in Narayanpur village under Ramanuj Nagar block last week has since been dismissed, they said.

In a video of the incident, which went viral on social media, the child, a student of kindergarten, can be seen hanging from a tree with his T-shirt tied to a rope fastened to a branch, while two women at the scene are heard reprimanding the person recording the act.

Surajpur District Education Officer (DEO) Ajay Mishra said that after the clip surfaced on social media on Monday, a team from the education department was dispatched to the school.

Based on the preliminary report, a show-cause notice was issued to the school management, seeking a response within two days, he said, adding that further action will be taken according to the rules after the school submits its response.

Speaking to reporters, school director Subhash Shivhare tried to justify the act, saying the teacher had tried to discipline the child.

"I was not present at the time of the incident. I arrived on Tuesday after receiving information about it and a call from the DEO's office. The teacher tried to hang the child using his T-shirt from a tree to scare him and make him study," he said.

He claimed that the child had been disturbing the class and hitting other students, and that the teacher tried to discipline him.