In a shocking incident, a teacher in the Government High School in Chalai beat up three students so badly that they had to be rushed to hospital.
While 13-year-old Sivadev and 12-year-old Athul are still in the General Hospital, Arun, who is also 12, was discharged.
The teacher,B Vijayakumar, is in police custody now. The teacher has been booked under sections of the Juvenile Justice Act.
Sivadev said that he was playing near the Class 6 room, when he knocked over some plates by mistake. The teacher pulled him up and complained to Vijayakumar.
“He came to me and slapped me hard on my face. I started running, fearing what he would do next, when he started following me,” said Sivadev. “I reached the staircase, which is usually deserted, when he caught up and pushed me down the stairs.”
The teacher then allegedly grabbed the hammer used to ring the school bell and hit him using it on his shoulder.
He then took Sivadev to his classroom, where another teacher, Saidathali, was taking class.
The student claims that Vijayakumar picked up a broken PVC pipe and turned on Arun, who was just sitting in class. As Arun pleaded with him, he turned his attention on Athul and hit him with the pipe on his knees.
He was about to hit Arun again when Saidathali intervened and stopped him.
Since the headmistress was on leave, the students didn’t know whom to turn to for help. Moreover, no one from the school filed a police complaint.
Rajesh Kumar, Sivadas’ father, who was in hospital with his wife, said, “Two or three days ago, the same teacher hit a female student with a chair. The girl’s mother had come to school to file a complaint, when she saw the children and informed me immediately.”
It was Rajesh Kumar who rushed to school and filed a complaint against the teacher at the Fort Police Station. He also registered a complaint on Childline.
"When I questioned the teacher, he told me that there is nothing unusual in what he did and this is how teachers punish students,” Rajesh Kumar said.
Sivadas claimed that the teacher had previously targeted him a month ago. “I was playing with my friends, when the bell rang signalling the end of break. He saw us running to class and threw a piece of wood at us. But luckily, it hit one boy’s leg and it didn’t injure him.”
Athul alleged, “During the Christmas exams, he was supervising and one student finished early. Vijayakumar didn’t like this, so he tore up his answer paper and asked the kid to write it again.”
Rajesh Kumar said he suspected that the school has not taken Vijayakumar to the police earlier, as very poor kids enrol here and if word of such an incident spreads, people would stop enrolling their kids there.
"There were no serious incidents on the part of the teacher earlier, only some minor problems were reported. I was on leave till noon today, so I don’t know what happened. We have submitted a report to the District Education Officer, detailing the incident and the arrest,” said J Sindhu, principal of the school.