Class 10th student beaten for writing ‘Jai Shri Ram’ on school blackboard in Jammu’s Kathua

Class 10th student beaten for writing ‘Jai Shri Ram’ on school blackboard in Jammu’s Kathua

Class 10th student beaten for writing ‘Jai Shri Ram’ on school blackboard in Jammu’s Kathua

Jammu and Kashmir: Student thrashed by principal Mohammed Hafiz and lecturer Farooq for writing ‘Jai Shri Ram’, FIR registered

In a shocking piece of news from Jammu and Kashmir’s Kathua area, a minor student studying in a government school was allegedly beaten by a lecturer and Principal for writing ‘Jai Shri Ram’ on the blackboard. The incident is said to have occurred on Friday (25 August) in HSS Bani. 

Following the incident, a video of the minor victim, currently hospitalised, is going viral on social media. In the video, the minor student (class X) is seen narrating the incident. Explaining the reason why he is in the hospital, he states that his teacher Farooq, and the school principal brutally thrashed him for writing Jai Shri Ram on the blackboard. 

Later, on Saturday morning, his father admitted him to the hospital. 

Speaking with OpIndia, Kathua Police stated that the incident took place on Friday, 25 August. The police confirmed that the minor schoolboy was beaten for writing ‘Jai Shri Ram’ on the blackboard. 

They added that they have filed an FIR in the case against two accused under Sections 323 (deals with punishment for voluntarily causing hurt), 342 (wrongful confinement), 504(intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of peace), and 506 (criminal intimidation) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC). Additionally, they have charged the accused under Section 75 (provides for punishment, if any person having control of child, assaults, abandons, abuses or willfully neglects the child) of the Juvenile Justice Act. The accused have been identified as school Principal Mohammed Hafiz and lecturer Farooq Ahmed. 

Assuring swift action, the Police said that they will soon arrest both the accused in this case. “The FIR has mentioned lecturer Farooq as the accused who thrashed the victim for writing ‘Jai Shri Ram’ on the class blackboard. Principal Mohammed Hafiz has also been named in the FIR. They will soon be arrested,” the police official told OpIndia.

Subsequently, the Jammu and Kashmir government has formed a three-member high-level committee. This probe committee will be led by the Sub-divisional magistrate (SDM) of Bani. The other two members of the committee include the Deputy Chief Education Officer Kathua region and the principal of the government school HSS Kharote.

The committee has been asked to submit the fact-finding report along with the specific comments that were made during the incident. They will have to submit the report in two days and have been asked to fix the responsibilities of all the culprits involved in this case. 

Apparently, a similar distressing news was reported from Uttar Pradesh’s Kanpur. As per a report by Times of India, a teacher of St Thomas School Kidwai Nagar allegedly thrashed two students of class 6 for raising the slogan ‘Jai Shri Ram’. Afterward, their parents lodged a complaint before the principal of the school.

Following the incident, an advocate named Praveen Fighter submitted a complaint to the registrar of the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) Anu Chaudhary. 

She took cognizance of the matter under section 75 of the Juvenile Justice Act and section 17 of the RTE Act. As a result, NCPCR registrar Chaudhary wrote a letter to the district magistrate regarding the same. The commission has ordered to conduct an inquiry and inform the commission accordingly within ten days. 

According to the complainant Praveen, on the 25th of July, the accused Chandan Christi had thrashed two minor students (class 6) for chanting ‘Jai Shri Ram’. 

It is alleged that in spite of the complaint filed by the parents, the principal is favouring the accused teacher in this case. 

Meanwhile, the school district inspector in Kanpur told the district magistrate that Kiran Sachan, who is the principal of Government High School Patara, has been assigned the role of an investigator in a case involving a student being beaten. Sachan has been instructed to provide a report on the matter.

He said, as soon as she submits her report, appropriate action will be taken against the accused teacher.

On Saturday, August 26, police arrested Farooq Ahmed, the teacher from Kathua who thrashed a Hindu student for writing Jai Shri Ram in the Government Higher Secondary School (Bani). The principal of the school, Mohammed Hafiz, is reportedly absconding till now. As per reports, Ahmed thrashed a Class 10 student for writing ‘Jai Shri Ram’ on the classroom blackboard, leading to widespread protests against him.

The principal is also an accused in the matter. The victim, a teenage student, is currently in the hospital for treatment. According to the reports, the victim’s father, Kuldeep Singh, submitted a complaint against Ahmed and Hafiz at the police station on August 25, alleging they beat up his son. Based on his complaint, an FIR was registered against the duo at Police Station Bani under relevant Sections of the Juvenile Justice Act. A local SHO headed a team that visited the school premises and arrested the teacher.

A senior police official said, “The principal is absconding, and a search is going on to arrest him while further investigation is underway.” Deputy Commissioner of Kathua Rakesh Minhas formed a three-member committee to investigate the matter. Sub Divisional Magistrate (Bani), Deputy Chief Education Officer (Kathua) and Principal of Government High Secondary School (Kharote) are members of the committee.

In his order, while forming the committee, Minhas said, “The committee members are directed to inquire into the matter and submit the fact-finding report along with specific comments and recommendations to this office within two days positively in order to proceed further in the matter. Moreover, the committee is also directed to fix the responsibility against the culprit regarding the incident.”

The incident triggered protests in Kathua

A video of the victim narrating the incident had gone viral on social media. In the video, the minor student (class X) is seen narrating the incident. Explaining why he is in the hospital, he stated that his teacher, Farooq, and the school principal brutally thrashed him for writing Jai Shri Ram on the blackboard. Speaking with OpIndia, Kathua Police stated that the incident took place on the 25th of August. The police confirmed that the minor schoolboy was beaten for writing ‘Jai Shri Ram’ on the blackboard. Following the incident, Hindu organisations launched a protest against the teacher and the principal, demanding strict action by the police and the administration.

They added that they had filed an FIR in the case against two accused under Sections 323 (deals with punishment for voluntarily causing hurt), 342 (wrongful confinement), 504(intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of peace), and 506 (criminal intimidation) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC). Additionally, they have charged the accused under Section 75 (which provides for punishment if any person having control of the child assaults, abandons, abuses or willfully neglects the child) of the Juvenile Justice Act. The accused have been identified as school Principal Mohammed Hafiz and lecturer Farooq Ahmed. (Via Oplindia.com)