Mumbai: The Santacruz police have booked a teacher of a reputed convent school in the area for allegedly thrashing a 13-year-old student. The act resulted in a fracture on her left elbow.
The incident allegedly took place at St Teresa Convent High School in Santacruz (West) on Monday, and it came to light the next day when the girl opened up about the incident to her mother and refused to go to school as she was in excruciating pain.
On Tuesday, the police booked the teacher under the IPC for voluntarily causing hurt. The police said they were investigating the matter and are yet to make an arrest in the case.
In her statement to the police, the girl’s mother – who is the complainant in the case – has alleged that the incident occurred around 10.30 am that day, soon after the teenager was roughed up by three of her classmates during the recess.
To report the matter, the girl had approached her class teacher, who instead of scolding the three girls allegedly beat her up. “When the teacher, Shila, was beating my daughter, she hit a bench and fell off.
After the fall, my daughter felt an excruciating pain and approached the school principal. Instead of taking note of it, the principal asked her to leave the cabin.
The next day, when my daughter refused to attend school, and I asked her for the reason, she broke into tears and told me that she was scared and in pain,” said the girl's mother in her statement recorded by the police.
According to the complainant, the teen was then rushed to the civic-run Bhabha Hospital in Bandra, where doctors said the injury to her left elbow had led to a fracture.
Following this, the girl’s parents went to Santacruz police station and reported the incident. When contacted, senior doctors from Bhabha Hospital, however, said they could not comment on a case without seeing the medical reports.
“It was a minor argument between students, and the teacher allegedly beat up the teenager. The teen has sustained a fracture and we have registered a case against the teacher.
The police are verifying the facts and we are awaiting medical reports, following which statements of the students will be recorded. Appropriate action will be initiated against the teacher after investigation,” said Paramjit Singh Dahiya, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Zone 9).
In her statement to the police, the student’s mother said: “My daughter is a slow learner and is undergoing treatment at Sion Hospital. Instead of being beaten up by the teacher, she should have been heard at least, and the teacher should have taken note of the harassment by other students.”
When The Free Press Journal contacted St Teresa’s Convent School, Santacruz (W), a spokesperson said, "We do not have any information about this incident occurring in the school. The student has been irregular in attending classes in the month of February.
We do not have any information whether this incident occurred during school hours. And, even if the incident happened on Monday, why did no other staff or teacher know about it? Why was the information released a day later?"
(With inputs from Swapnil Mishra and Ronald Rodrigues)
