Gujarat teacher gets 3-yr imprisonment for slapping student, causing hearing loss

A court has sentenced a school teacher to more than three years in prison for slapping a Class 9 student for unfinished homework, an act that ruptured her left eardrum and caused hearing impairment.

Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate Himanshu Choudhary, in the judgment on January 30, held the offence involved abuse of authority by a teacher, which caused a serious injury to the 14-year-old girl, and resulted in “longstanding hearing impairment” as well as resultant long-term medical consequences.

Even after four-and-a-half years of the incident, the victim was still undergoing medication for the injury suffered, the court noted.

It convicted the teacher, Parulben Patel, under section 325 of the Indian Penal Code and section 75 of the Juvenile Justice Act, for assaulting the child and voluntarily causing grievous hurt, and sentenced her to three years and three months in prison.

The court also imposed a fine of Rs 50,000 on her and directed that the amount be paid as compensation to the victim.

As per the prosecution, the incident occurred on January 1, 2020, at Baa Shri Vasantkuvarba School, a private institution, in Gandhinagar.

The accused, enraged over the student not doing her homework, slapped her thrice on her left ear. As a result, the student suffered a perforation of the left eardrum, causing her grievous hurt.

Based on a complaint by the girl’s family, the Sector-21 police registered an FIR against the teacher two days after the incident.

In her defence, the teacher had submitted before the court that the student was not doing her homework and acting on her whims. When her parents were told about the same, they filed a false case against her, she claimed.

The court took into account the testimony of the medical witnesses and the history narrated before the treating doctor, corroborating the charges levelled against the accused.

The teacher’s lawyer sought leniency in the sentence, given the fact that she was suffering from cancer.

The court observed that the offence involved abuse of authority by a teacher, serious physical injury to a minor child, and long-term medical consequences.

“Such factors outweigh mitigating circumstances. Grant of probation would defeat the object of deterrence and child protection. Moreover, no documentary evidence in support of the cancer ailment has been brought on record,” it stated.