Two detained after video shows man threatening to kill student

Rifat Mohidin

Tribune News Service

Srinagar, July 3

A day after a video of a man threatening to kill a minor student with an axe went viral, the police today said two persons had been detained and were being questioned in relation with the case.

The department of school education has, however, said the man threatening the student was not a teacher.

At a press conference in Handwara on Wednesday, Handwara SSP Sunil Mishra said the main person involved in threatening the minor student had also been identified and would be arrested soon.

“A case has been registered under relevant sections. We have detained two persons with the knowledge of the incident and the main person involved has also been identified. The student is a minor. Further investigation is on,” the SSP said.

A team of the department of school education, Kashmir, has said the incident had happened at a private coaching centre in north Kashmir’s Handwara in the winter.

Chief Education Officer (CEO), Kupwara, Muhammad Shafi said he had sent a team to Bright Future Education Institute in Wagat village of Handwara.

“Our team found that the incident had happened in winter and the man threatening the minor was not a school teacher. The school had rented out a room to a private coaching centre and it was a peon of the school and not the teacher who is seen threatening the student.” He said they were questioning the students and the teachers of the school.

The shocking video surfaced on the Internet on Tuesday night and a man wearing a pheran can be seen threatening to slaughter a minor student with an axe while the student is pinned to the ground.

The video shocked residents and triggered angry reactions from parents who termed it “inhuman behaviour”.

“If these things are done to students, it will leave a psychological impact on their minds,” said Nighat Tariq, a mother of two.

As per the guidelines of the Ministry of Women and Child Development, physically punishing the students can invite a jail term as well as fine.

“We have always issued strict directions for proper treatment of children in schools. This incident has not, however, happened in any school,” said Muhammad Younis Malik, Director, School Education, Kashmir.

Corporal punishment is banned in most of the states.