Principal of K'ntka school made students clean septic tank

Bengaluru: In a residential school in Karnataka's Kolar district, a school principal and teacher allegedly made their students clean the campus safety tank. The duo were arrested, and four contractual staff were sacked after visuals of the incident came out, NDTV reports.

There was a video showing a punishment given to students, who were made to kneel carrying heavy school bags on their backs at night.

The visuals are from Morarji Desai residential school in Kolar, which teaches 243 students, including 19 girls, from Classes 6 to 9.

As per allegations, at least four students were made to climb down a septic tank and clean it as a punishment.

Even though manual scavenging was banned in India thirty years ago, it continues to cause many deaths every year. The deaths were mostly due to suffocation. Here, not even adults but children were made to clean the tank.

In the video showing students kneeling with weight on their backs and their hands raised, one of them was seen gasping for breath as his friends helped him drink water.

After the video sparked severe outrage and demanded Chief Minister Siddaramaiah's intervention, Bharatamma and teacher Muniyappa were arrested. The duo were suspended, citing negligence and dereliction of duty, reports NDTV.

In another news, A school principal in Arunachal Pradesh allegedly beat up students for failing to recite prayers in Sanskrit and for low proficiency in the language. Police said on Sunday that the person from Pakke Kessang district has been arrested.

The school was operated by the Patanjali Yogpeeth Trust, which terminated the services of the principal after the allegations surfaced, they said.