A Class X student from Telangana fainted after he was thrashed by a part-time Physical Education Teacher (PET) for carrying a pen drive to school. The incident occurred on Tuesday, March 7, evening at the SC Social Welfare School located in Maggidi village of the Dharmapuri Mandal in the state.
The student, Sai Sandeep, who is 15 years old and belongs to the Burugupalli village. He fainted immediately after being beaten up and was rushed to a hospital for treatment. He was discharged later in the day, as per a report by The New Indian Express.
According to the report, the PET identified himself as Suresh. When he found out that someone in the class had brought a pen drive, he made the students stand in a queue for inspection. He suspected Sandeep to be the culprit as the boy had broken the queue and was standing with his hands clasped behind his back. Suresh asked him to come forward and hit him brutally on his wrist as a punishment.
This caused the student's hand to swell and upon learning about it, Sandeep's parents took him to a hospital in Dharmapuri and then to another hospital in the nearby town of Jagtial. When contacted, SC Development Coordinator M Krishnama Charya said that the student was out of danger and was sent back home. He added that the school administration has taken serious note of the incident and sacked the PET with immediate effect, as per TNIE.
The incident has been made a political issue. Commenting on it, District Congress Committee (DCC) president Adluri Laxman Kumar said that the unfortunate event took place in the constituency of SC Welfare Minister Koppula Eshwar and the Minister was "least bothered" to even inquire about the incident, let alone meet the student. He further alleged that many such incidents took place across the state on a regular basis.