A government school teacher in Tamil Nadu’s Virudhunagar district was assaulted by two Class 12 students with a liquor bottle on Wednesday, July 16. The teacher, 47-year-old Shanmugasundaram, suffered head and facial injuries and was rushed to the Thiruthangal Government Hospital, where he received more than 10 stitches. His condition is currently stable.
The incident occurred around noon while Shanmugasundaram, who teaches political science, was conducting a class. According to reports, four students arrived late to the class post the lunch break. Upon noticing the smell of alcohol on them, the teacher asked the boys to accompany him to the headmaster’s office.
While walking there, two of the students allegedly took a liquor bottle from their school bag and struck the teacher from behind. Shanmugasundaram collapsed on the spot. Other teachers and students intervened and took him to the hospital.
Following the attack, officials from the School Education Department and local police visited the school and launched an inquiry. The Thiruthangal police have registered a case and detained two 17-year-old students, who have since been sent to an observation home in Madurai district. The other two students are being questioned.
This is not the first instance of student violence at the school. In December 2023, two Class 11 students from the same institution were detained for attacking their economics teacher with a machete and a knife, allegedly after being reprimanded for arriving late to a special class.