Coimbatore: A family of a class 7 student at a government high school in Ashokapuram on Tuesday lodged a complaint with the Chief Education Officer, alleging that two teachers harassed and beat the child, due to her religion and for consuming beef meat.
The family complained that the teachers, Abhinaya and Rajkumar, also made the child polish shoes. Hussain, an activist who assisted the child’s family, said that the alleged abuse had been occurring for nearly two months.
In the petition, the parents stated that the female teacher did not like children who came to school wearing hijab and had been harassing children from minority community indirectly for the last few months, reports the Indian Express.
“Two months ago, the teacher asked my child about my occupation. My child had told her that I run a beef and meat shop. Two weeks ago, the teacher beat up my child and criticized our eating habit of beef consumption,” the father of the girl said, reports Indian Express.
When the family took the issue with the headmistress, she supported the teacher and refused to take action on their complaint. Even after the complaint, the headmaster and Abhinaya allegedly continued to threaten the child, said the parents.
Following this, they filed the complaint with the Chief Education Officer, R Balamurali.
"Following our intervention, the Assistant Commissioner of Police and local police visited the school and reassured the child of her safety. However, the harassment continued, and the child revealed that she was slapped and forced to clean others' shoes using her purdah. School administrators further threatened to issue a Transfer Certificate to the child," said Hussain.
In response to the complaint, the Chief Education Officer has initiated an inquiry and assured appropriate action.