The principal and a teacher of a government higher secondary school in Bani area of Jammu and Kashmir’s Kathua district have been booked for allegedly administering corporal punishment to a class 10 student for writing “Jai Shri Ram” on the blackboard, police said. According to police, the incident took place on Friday and an FIR has been registered. The boy has been admitted to a government hospital with bruises and internal injuries. As news of the incident spread, protests took place in Bani town demanding action against the accused, identified as school principal Mohd Hafiz and lecturer Farooq Ahmed. According to Bani police station SHO Arjun Magotra, police teams have been dispatched to apprehend both men. The two have been booked under IPC sections 323 (voluntarily causing hurt), 342 (wrongful confinement), 504 (intentional insult) and 506 (criminal intimidation), and Section 75 (cruelty to child) of the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act. The FIR states that the incident took place on August 25, around noon, when the class 10 students were in the classroom. It states: “The boy had written Jai Shri Ram on the board. When Farooq came to the class and saw this, he, in front of the other students, took the child to the ground and beat him badly. He then took the boy to the principal’s room, and both of them locked the room and beat the child. They told him that if he does such a thing again, they will kill him. They then sent a staff and got the board with water. The boy had to be hospitalised.” A bandh was observed on Saturday and Kathua’s Basohli town also witnessed protests. Kathua Deputy Commissioner Rakesh Minhas constituted a three-member committee headed by the Bani sub-divisional magistrate to inquire into the matter and submit a report within two days. The members of the committee include the Bani SDM, the Deputy Chief Education Officer of Kathua, and the principal of the government higher secondary school in Kharote.
