NHRC seeks report from UP government, police after teacher allegedly fractures Class 3 student’s shoulder

Expressing concern over the report that a teacher allegedly fractured a third grade student’s shoulder during punishment, the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has issued notices to the basic education department and the district police commissioner. The human rights panel said it has taken suo motu cognizance of the media report that corporal punishment by a teacher fractured the shoulder of a Class 3 student at a government-run primary school in the Gautam Budh Nagar district of Uttar Pradesh.

The commission noted that the eight-year old boy did not reportedly disclose the incident but refused to go to school for three to four days. His younger brother informed that he was injured after being beaten with a stick by his class teacher. Moreover, the report carried on August 7, said that the parents of the injured child admitted him to a hospital for a surgery.

NHRC observed that the contents of the news report, if true, raise serious issues of violation of human rights of the victim. Therefore, NHRC has issued notices to the state principal secretary of the Department of Basic Education and the police seeking a detailed report on the matter within two weeks.

Also read No schools to be closed in Uttar Pradesh, institutions with low enrolment to be merged: Minister

According to a Times of India report, a student of Kanshiram Primary School said that he was beaten for making noise. The school principal, however, denied the allegations and the possibility of him getting hurt in the school premises. The incident took place in the last week of July.

At first, the primary student did not inform about the incident at home and instead said that he fell from the stairs while refusing to go to school as he was afraid of the teacher, his parents told TOI. The parents also noticed swelling in the shoulder and hands of the child, as per the report.