Verma allegedly told his students to slap the girl.
An Indian teacher who worked at a government school in the Jhabua district of Madhya Pradesh has been arrested for allegedly telling some of his students to slap their classmate 168 times.
The suspect was identified as 35-year-old Manoj Verma who allegedly directed some of his students to carry out the punishment on the girl after she failed to complete her homework.
The incident happened in January 2018 when the girl was in Class 6 at Jawahar Navodaya School in Thandla town.
Verma was arrested on Monday, May 13, 2019. He was presented before the court on the same day where Judicial Magistrate First Class Jai Patidar denied the suspect’s bail plea.
According to additional district prosecution officer Ravi Prakash Rai, Verma allegedly told his students to slap the girl.
The girl’s father Shiv Pratap Singh explained that his daughter did not go to school from January 1 to 10, 2018, as she was not feeling well.
On January 11, the girl had gone to school but did not complete her homework.
When Verma found out, he told the rest of the students to slap her as a form of punishment.
This resulted in 14 girls slapping her two times every day for six days.
Mr Singh filed a complaint with the school management which constituted a committee to probe the incident. The panel found Verma guilty and suspended him.
The victim’s father also filed a complaint with the police against the accused under the relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code and Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act.
He explained to the police that his daughter was distressed and became ill as a result of the incident. The girl had to be taken to a hospital and also refused to go to school.
Manoj Verma was arrested in connection with the offence and later denied bail by the court. He has been remanded in judicial custody for 14 days.
In a similar incident, a Pakistani teacher allegedly cut off several of her student’s hair after they failed to understand a lesson that was taught.
After cutting their hair off, the teacher locked them in a dark room.
The parents of the pupils found out about the incident and went to the school. They found the girls in the room and managed to let them out.
They informed the police and alleged that the teacher locked the girls in a room after cutting their hair off.
The parents also submitted an application to the Chiniot Deputy Commissioner and demanded action to be taken against the accused.