For Rs 200, teachers lock 200 students for 10 hours

LUCKNOW: About 200 students of a government primary school in Uttar Pradesh were locked inside their classrooms for over 10 hours without food and water after the headmistress claimed they had stolen Rs 200 from her purse, an official said on Wednesday.
 
The students of the primary school in Jirha village near Amethi in Sultanpur district, about 80 km from here, were locked up by the teachers on the directions of the headmistress. At least 12 students had fainted by the time their parents rescued them.

"Parents managed to rescue their children only by late Tuesday evening. The children were not even given the regular meals under the mid-day meal scheme," M. Siddiqui, officer in-charge of basic eductaion in Sultanpur, said over the phone.
 
"We have learnt that as the classrooms were locked, the parents broke the window panes and ventilators to take out their children," he added.
 
Siddiqui, who left for Amethi on Wednesday morning for an inspection, said they had so far not received any reports of the students being beaten up.
 
He said he came to know of the incident after the parents of the students filed a complaint at the education department office.
 
Asked what action would be taken against the school authorities, Siddiqui said: "A high-level committee has already been constituted. Probably by the evening, we will take necessary action against the school administration."