Student beaten up by teacher, principal for writing 'Jai Shri Ram' on classroom board in Kathua of J-K

Arjun Sharma

Jammu, August 26

Protest demonstrations rocked the Bani area of Kathua district in Jammu division after a student of class 10 of a government school was beaten up by a teacher and principal for allegedly writing ‘Jai Shri Ram’ on his classroom board.

Officials said the student of Higher Secondary School, Bani, was admitted to the hospital for internal injuries after he was beaten up by his Urdu teacher Farooq Ahmed and principal Mohammad Hafiz on Friday for allegedly writing the religious slogan on the board.

As per a teacher of the school, Ahmed started thrashing the student mercilessly after finding the religious slogan on the classroom board and took him to the principal who also allegedly beat up him.

The student comes from an underprivileged family and was admitted to the hospital by his father on Saturday morning. Both the accused were booked by the Bani police under Sections 323 (voluntarily causing hurt), 342 (wrongful confinement), 504 (Intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of the peace), 506 (Criminal intimidation) of Indian Penal Code (IPC) and Section 75 of Juvenile Justice Act (assault on child).

Arjun Magotra, Station House Officer (SHO) at Bani, said an FIR has been registered against Farooq Ahmed and Mohammad Hafiz for assaulting a minor. “Investigation is going on at present and the accused will be arrested soon” he said.

Protest demonstrations by different groups broke out in Bani and Basohli areas of Kathua against the incident.

Sensing the situation turning communal as many Hindu organisations started protests against the incident, Kathua Deputy Commissioner Rakesh Minhas constituted an inquiry committee. Three officials —Sub Divisional Magistrate (SDM) Bani, Deputy Chief Education Officer Kahua and Principal of Government Higher Secondary School, Kharote, will be part of the panel.

SDM Satish Sharma told Tribune that the incident took place on Friday and the student was admitted to the hospital on Saturday morning after his family found him wounded. “The student had written ‘Jai Shri Ram’ on his class board after which he was beaten up by the teacher and principal. There are internal injuries on the body of the student which are being treated,” he said. The inquiry committee will submit its report in two days.

District Development Council members, sarpanches and students protested and demanded stern action against the two accused.

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