Dalit boy assaulted by govt teachers in Shimla; scorpion placed in pants
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Shimla: In a shocking case of caste-based cruelty, three teachers of a government school in Shimla district — including the headmaster — have been booked for repeatedly assaulting an eight-year-old Dalit student and allegedly placing a scorpion in his pants, police said on Sunday.
The Class 1 student from the Government Primary School at Khaddapani in Rohru sub-division was reportedly subjected to year-long physical abuse by headmaster Devendra and teachers Babu Ram and Kritika Thakur, according to a complaint filed by his father.
The complainant alleged that the repeated beatings caused his son’s ear to bleed and damaged his eardrum. He further stated that the accused teachers took the boy to the school’s toilet, where they placed a live scorpion inside his pants.
Police have registered a case under Sections 127(2) (wrongful confinement), 115(2) (voluntarily causing hurt), 351(2) (criminal intimidation), and 3(5) (common intention) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita. They have also invoked provisions of the Juvenile Justice Act for cruelty to a child, and sections of the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act pertaining to acts that outrage human dignity and crimes against members of the Scheduled Castes or Scheduled Tribes.
A police spokesperson said that a report is being sent to senior officials for directions on whether the probe should be handled by a gazetted officer.
The father also alleged that the teachers intimidated his son, warning him of arrest if he spoke about the abuse. On October 30, the headmaster allegedly threatened to expel the boy from school and told the family they would be “burned” if they made the matter public. The family was warned not to file a police complaint or post about the incident on social media, with threats implying fatal consequences.
The complainant further claimed that teacher Kritika Thakur’s husband, Nitish Thakur, had been illegally teaching students in her place for the past year. He also alleged ongoing caste-based discrimination at the school, where Nepali and Harijan students were forced to sit separately from Rajput students during meals.
This is not an isolated incident of abuse or caste discrimination in the Rohru region. Just last week, a teacher at the Government Primary School in Gawana was suspended for assaulting a student with a thorny bush. Earlier, a 12-year-old Dalit boy in Limda village of Rohru reportedly took his own life after being locked inside a cowshed by upper-caste women for entering their house.
Authorities are investigating the latest case, which has triggered outrage over continued caste bias and child abuse in government schools.
With PTI inputs