Indian school is shut down after teacher is filmed telling pupils to slap their seven-year-old Muslim classmate in the face – and encouraging them to ‘hit him harder’
Indian school is shut down after a teacher is filmed telling students to punch their seven-year-old Muslim classmate in the face – encouraging them to ‘punch him harder’
- The school was closed and the teacher is now facing a police case after complaints
A private school in Uttar Pradesh, India, has been shut down after videos emerged of a teacher encouraging students to hit and hit their Muslim classmate.
Tripta Tyagi, a teacher at Neha Public School, was filmed berating the seven-year-old boy, who was forced to stand in front of the class before Tyagi invited other students to punch him in the face and on the back.
The boy is seen crying as several classmates come forward to punch him.
“Why are you hitting him so lightly? Hit him harder,’ you hear Tyagi say. “Slap him on the back… His face turns red, so now slap him on the back,” she added.
The 60-year-old teacher, who is now facing a police case after the boy’s parents saw the video and filed a complaint, apologized for the incident but insisted she had not attacked the student because of his beliefs, but simply because he hadn’t. finished his homework.
“I accept with folded hands that I made a mistake. But I didn’t have in mind any divide between Hindus and Muslims,” she said, having previously defended her actions as necessary to maintain discipline among the students.
While the boy’s father told India Today there would be “no compromise” with the teacher over her actions, he also claimed the incident was not religiously motivated. He told NDTV that “this is not a Hindu-Muslim problem.”
“Why are you hitting him so lightly? Hit him harder’, you hear the teacher say. The boy is seen getting punched by a classmate
The 60-year-old teacher, now facing a police case after the boy’s parents saw the video and filed a complaint, apologized for the incident but insisted she had not attacked the student because of his beliefs.
The boy’s father revealed that his son was so upset after the ordeal that he stopped eating and started chatting and talking nonsense
The Neda Public School was closed after the incident after authorities judged the establishment to be failing to meet educational standards.
Details about school conditions have also come to light, with reports pointing to inadequate facilities, such as a lack of lighting, ventilators and proper classrooms.
Officials later revealed that the affected students will be transferred to government schools or nearby alternatives.
The local education authority has also offered to place the young victim in a local government school free of charge if the family agrees.
It comes after the boy’s father revealed that his son was so upset after the ordeal that he stopped eating and started chatting and talking nonsense.
“He was very upset and didn’t eat for two days. He also started walking. We can only wonder what consequences such an incident could have on a little boy,” he told NDTV, adding that the seven-year-old’s sleep pattern was also disrupted.
The boy was eventually taken for a medical checkup.
“The doctor told us he needs some privacy. We took care of that, and now he’s better,” his father said.