The teenage victim’s elder brother has filed a complaint against school committee member Rajeev Verma and class teacher Sukhbir Singh
NEW DELHI — In yet another disturbing incident, a 14-year-old Dalit student, accused of damaging the school’s water pipe, was allegedly thrashed and subjected to casteist abuse by a school official and a teacher in Uttar Pradesh’s Mainpuri district.
The incident occurred on January 30 in the Kurawali area.
The student’s parents said their son was unfairly targeted and claimed that another pupil had broken the pipe. According to media reports, the victim’s elder brother has filed a complaint against school committee member Rajeev Verma and class teacher Sukhbir Singh.
Police registered an FIR under Sections 115 (voluntarily causing hurt), 352 (intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of peace), and 351 (criminal intimidation) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, along with provisions of the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe (Prevention of Atrocities) Act.
Rajeev Verma denied the allegations, saying, “This is a false case against me. I wasn’t even present at the school. The class teacher may have been there. I am not aware of the incident. I will meet police officials soon and hope there will be a fair probe.”
In his statement to the police, the student said he had gone to drink water and noticed that the pipe connected to the water tank was broken.
“I kept pleading that I did not break it, but nobody listened. I was beaten, abused with casteist slurs, and threatened with death if I was seen again on the school premises,” he reportedly told the police.
