In a shocking incident, more than three dozen students of UKG (upper kindergarten) to Class V were made to stand in a queue and beaten indiscriminately by School Principal Chandan Kumar Sharma on Tuesday, August 29, for being absent on Monday, August 28.
The children, studying at the Indian Public School at Bhogu village under Satbarwa Police Station in Palamu, Jharkhand, were absent as they were attending a Kalash Yatra organised on the last Monday of the holy Shrawan month at their village Khamdih.
According to the children, in spite of stating the reason for not attending the classes, the principal beat them up indiscriminately with a stick. As many as six children received serious injuries on their bodies.
"Even after we informed principal sir that we had gone to attend Kalash Yatra in our village, he beat us up indiscriminately which has left marks on our bodies," shared a Class V student with The New Indian Express, requesting anonymity.
The students were beaten up after they were made to stand in a queue and were threatened not to mention anything to their parents about the incident or they would face dire consequences, he added. Later, they went home and informed their parents about the incident.
Looking at the marks on their children's body, angry parents approached local police at around 8 pm on Tuesday demanding action against the school principal. Abhishek Kumar, Arun Singh, Sudhanshu Kumar, Abhishek Kumar, Sudhanshu, Chandan Kumar, Suraj Kumar Gupta and several other students even showed their injuries to the police.
Police, on the other hand, said that they have not received any formal complaint in this regard and are working on the information they has received about the incident.
"Since, no formal complaint has been received in this regard; we are still identifying who we can talk to. Meanwhile, we have called the school principal and are trying to get details of the matter," said officer in charge of Satbarwa Police Station, Amit Kumar Soni.
As per the information gathered so far, the children were spotted playing 'kancha' (marbles) by someone who shot their video and sent the footage to their teacher, he added. The OC said that as soon as the video footage of students playing marbles reached the school principal, he got angry and beat them up.
He, however, said that the principal should not have beaten up the children. "We are still looking into the matter proper action will be taken once the investigation gets completed," said the officer in-charge.
