The parents of an 8-year-old disabled child who was caned mercilessly by his teacher filed a complaint with the Matunga police on Thursday, after which a First Information Report (FIR) was registered against her. The matter came to light after a video clip of the incident went public. They also intend to approach the Child Rights Commission.
A case has been registered against the teacher under section 23 of The Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2000 (punishment for cruelty to juvenile or child) along with Indian Penal Code (IPC) sections 323 (punishment for voluntarily causing hurt).
The school for handicapped children, which is registered with the social justices department, had called a meeting with the parents on Saturday. During the meet, a school official was heard asking some parents about who had circulated the video. Unaware that it was her own child who had been caned, the victim's mother returned from the meeting and asked one of the parents to share the clip with her. It was only when she watched the video that she realised that it was her son.
AN Tripathi, secretary of Child Rights Commission, said, "On the corporal punishment, the commission will send a suo motto to the school."
Speaking to dna, she said, "My child is not in a safe environment. I may not send him back to that school. He cannot speak. I had seen a few marks on his body before, but I ignored then thinking that he got them while playing with other kids. There must be some rules on corporal punishment for every school. He was beaten up very badly. Even I am in the field of education and I know that this sort of trauma has long term psychological effects on children. Any child, disabled or not, can get affected by corporal punishment. It can result in bed wetting, a hatred towards school, and loss of confidence. Handicapped children cannot even express themselves. We must raise our voice against such incidents."
According to Matunga police, the teacher lives in the western suburbs and has been working with the school for the past 8 years. "The video was recorded by a resident who lives just opposite the school on July 30. Initially the parents did not want to file compliant, but they came forward later. We have also recorded the statement of the person who recorded the video and very soon we will send a notice the teacher," said Raghvendra Thakur, senior inspector of Matunga police station.
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