7 min readMuzaffarnagarAug 27, 2023 10:27 AM IST
First published on: Aug 26, 2023 at 09:07 PM IST
A day after a video emerged of a boy being slapped by fellow students on the instructions of a school teacher, who also referred to his faith and talked pejoratively about “Mohammedan children”, the boy’s father said he is scared and worried about their future in the Muzaffarnagar village where they live.
Pressure is also mounting on the family not to pursue a case against the teacher, with the head of a nearby village as well as farm leader Naresh Tikait pushing them to reach a “compromise”.
Police, meanwhile, filed an FIR against the teacher, Tripta Tyagi (60), who was seen on video telling the children to hit their classmate “hard” – ostensibly for not learning multiplication tables – and saying at one point: “Maine toh declare kar diya, jitne bhi Mohammedan bachche hain, inke wahan chale jao (I have declared – all these Muslim children, go to anyone’s area)…”
The FIR has been filed based on the boy’s statement and his father’s complaint, under IPC sections 323 (causing hurt) and 504 (intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of peace).
On Saturday, the boy’s father found himself surrounded by politicians, village leaders, media and dozens of locals at his modest home. While the RLD and Bhim Army turned up to support the family, a group of village heads wanted him to retract his complaint. Narender Tyagi, the head of Pura village, told him, “Stop this drama now. We don’t want the media in this village. I want you to go to the police station and tell them you don’t need an FIR. Get it expunged… or you will be the one facing consequences.”
Farmer leader Tikait held what he called a “peace meeting” and told the father “to do compromise” and get the FIR expunged.
The school has 50-60 students, roughly half of them Muslim. Several families said they were aware of corporal punishment being meted out to their children. (Express photo)
The father later told The Indian Express that he doesn’t want action against the teacher and is scared because of all the attention. “My family and I are worried about our future here. I am a farm labourer. I don’t want Tripta ma’am to be arrested or punished. My son and his cousin have been studying there for years. We only wanted an apology and an explanation from her. It was my nephew who shot the video and showed it to me on Thursday. I was shocked to see my boy being beaten over his identity. He was humiliated because he didn’t do his homework. We have never faced such an issue in the village, but now everyone is talking about it.”
“I can’t send my son there anymore. The video scared my wife and me. We will find another school and see what we can do,” he said.
The boy’s uncle, who recorded the video, alleged that the teacher got his nephew and another Muslim boy beaten for at least an hour. “I have been helping Tripta ma’am with the (school) construction for months. I have a JCB and also brought labourers. On Thursday, I went to talk to her about some work and found her beating up a boy, calling him ‘Mohammedan’. Next, she called my nephew, and I decided to record a video. I was shocked to see her calling each of her students to beat him up. He was crying as he was slapped and hit on the waist. I sent the video to a local reporter.”
Tripta has not been arrested so far since the sections in the FIR are bailable, said a police officer, adding that forensic teams will analyse the video and further legal action will be taken accordingly.
In response to the allegations, Tripta said she was being targeted for no reason. “The video has been edited. I said other things but those lines were removed. I made a mistake and I accept that. I shouldn’t have asked other students to hit him. I am a heart patient and am handicapped, so I couldn’t stand to hit him. I only said that Muslim mothers shouldn’t take their kids to their maternal home during exams. I was only trying to maintain discipline in class. I didn’t know the boy’s uncle was recording the video,” she said.
Neha Public School, which Tripta also owns, is the only private school in the village. It is registered with the UP state board and received affiliation in 2019. At the moment, there is construction going on at the school, and Tripta has been teaching the students at her home, which is also where Thursday’s incident took place.
The school has 50-60 students, roughly half of them Muslim. Several families said they were aware of corporal punishment being meted out to their children.
Hardly 200 metres from the home of the boy who was hit, another family was just as stunned. A shopkeeper told The Indian Express, “I was shocked to see the video. My girls are in it. Four of my children study there. The teacher pushed them to hit the boy. My girls are innocent; this could also happen to them. We want to shift them to another school but do we even have that option? The government school has no space. There’s a school in Pura village but the fee there is Rs 1,500 for a month. I can’t afford that.”
The families pay Rs 300-500 a month as fees at Neha Public School.
The village, where the incident took place, has over 350 families and only two schools – one run by the government and Neha Public School – as per official records. There are other schools in the district, but they are located 10-15 km from the village and are relatively more expensive.
The National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) meanwhile directed the Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP), Muzaffarnagar to initiate an inquiry and lodge an FIR against the teacher. The SSP has also been instructed to submit an action taken report within a week.
The NCPCR also directed the Muzaffarnagar District Magistrate to initiate action in the matter under Section 17 (child being subjected to physical punishment/mental harassment) of the RTE Act, 2009.
Neha Public School is the only private school in the village. At the moment, there is construction going on at the school, and Tripta Tyagi has been teaching students at her home, which is also where Thursday’s incident took place. (Express photo)
The school has 50-60 students, roughly half of them Muslim. Several families said they were aware of corporal punishment being meted out to their children. (Express photo)
Share
