Pune: Class VII student bullied by classmates at Kothrud school; admin takes action after outcry

The four boys allegedly attempted to physically restrain their classmate, pinning him down on the bench, sitting on him and making comments of sexual nature.

“The student who was bullied informed a teacher and his parents on January 5 evening. The teacher, however, had already applied for a leave for the next day. After the parents communicated with the teacher on Sunday, she understood the gravity of the incident and called them to meet on Monday morning”, the director told The Indian Express.

In the meeting Monday, the CCTV footage of the incident was shown to the parents of all the students involved in the incident. The victim’s parents requested the school to rusticate the four students.

The institute’s director said the request cannot be complied with as under Right To Education Act students up to Class 8 cannot be rusticated.

“As per existing law, we can’t rusticate any children below class 8. However, we have suspended them temporarily. Their parents have agreed to counsel them at home. When they return to school, they will be attending classes during different time shifts”, he said.

Anuradha Sahasrabuddhe, city-based child rights activist, said that the incident could only be the tip of the iceberg as most such incidents go unreported.

“Only because the kid complained and the details were shared through social media, we know about this one. But it is only the tip of the iceberg. There are many children who suffer silently because of the prospective bullying,” she said.

Sahasrabuddhe linked the sexual overtones in bullying with school-aged teenagers getting exposed to pornographic material.

“We have looked into this and we have realised that children are heavily exposed to pornography and some are even addicted to it… Sadly, parents have no control over it due to the easy access to cellphones kids have. While it is difficult to say if the kids do such things for sexual pleasure because many times they are very young and their hormones have not developed, it could be just imitating what they see in videos”, said Sahasrabuddhe.