The 6-year-old child’s mother claims that he was locked inside the classroom
Team Clarion
NEW DELHI – A six-year-old Class I student of a government primary school in Jansath town of Muzaffarnagar District in Uttar Pradesh, was found locked in a classroom after school hours. According to the police, Principal Sandhya Jain and class teacher Ravita Rani were responsible for this oversight.
The child was also allegedly forced to clean the toilet by some teachers.
According to a police complaint filed by the child’s mother, school teachers had a history of mistreating her son and forcing him to clean the school toilet because they harboured prejudice against Dalit children, media reports reaching here on Thursday said.
The mother’s complaint alleged that the boy was locked in the classroom on Tuesday for more than an hour after the school closed for the day. When her son did not return home, she asked other students, but they were unaware of his whereabouts.
Upon arriving at the school, she found it closed and heard her son’s cries from inside a classroom. Villagers and family members called the principal, and eventually, teacher Ravita Rani’s husband arrived with the keys to unlock the classroom.
Rani’s husband suggested that the child might have fallen asleep in the class. However, the mother’s allegations point to a pattern of discrimination and neglect, media reports said.
A Press Trust of India (PTI) report quoted Basic Shiksha Adhikari (BSA) Sandeep Kumar as saying that Principal Sandhya Jain has been suspended, and teacher Ravita Rani has received an adverse entry in her service record. A probe has been ordered, with a two-member committee led by the BSA of Jansath and Shahpur tasked with investigating the incident and submitting a report within three days.
Kumar said that all school staff have been instructed to check classrooms thoroughly before closing the school.
Principal Jain defended herself, stating that the class teacher was responsible for the incident. “Even if the child was sleeping, the classroom should have been checked before locking it,” she said.
The police are currently investigating the matter.
