Our kid was beaten at school, allege Dalit parents

Parents of a student studying in senior KG at Kumkum Vidyalaya in Maninagar have alleged that their child was beaten by a teacher and have demanded CCTV footage of the incident.

Rahul Shyamal, Yash’s father, along with members of the Youth Congress and National Students Union of India (NSUI) gathered outside the school on Tuesday morning to protest.

Confirming the incident, Gaurang Makwana, vice-president, Youth Congress, said, “On June 23, Yash was slapped by a lady teacher which resulted in a cut lip and bleeding. When the parents inquired, they were told that the injury happened as Yash fell down the stairs. However, the school management did not even provide him with basic first aid. When asked, Yash revealed that his lip was bleeding as a teacher had slapped him. Later, the school authorities also threatened his parents on the basis of their caste.”

“Due to Rath Yatra and Eid, we waited for a few days and held a protest outside the school premises on Tuesday,” Makwana said, adding, “We have given the school 48 hours to take action against the teacher and they have assured us that they will do so if the teacher is found guilty.”

Pooja Prajapati, from Voice of Parents, said, “We have come to know of this incident and we will be meeting the school management on Wednesday to demand action against the teacher.”

Kumkum Vidyalaya trustee Mahesh Thakkar did not respond to DNA despite repeated attempts.

Checked CCTV footage, found nothing, says Maninagar PI

VB Barad, police inspector, Maninagar police station, said, “We have taken an application, based on which we acquired the CCTV footage. However, we have not found any evidence which corroborates the parents’ story in the CCTV footage yet. We are conducting further investigation.”