The Visva-Bharati University Registrar on Thursday issued a statement expressing regret over the traumatic experience that a Class V student was put through by the warden who forced her to lick urine,and requested her parents to send her back to the Patha Bhavana school. The varsity will also overhaul the entire warden-matron system prevailing in its school hostels for years to improve the situation,as per the statement. The university unequivocally regrets the traumatic experience of a Patha Bhavana student at the hands of the warden,Ms Uma Poddar,(of Karabi hostel). Visva-Bharati has allowed the girl to be a day-boarder,as an exceptional case. The university further assures her parents (and all other parents of Patha Bhavana children) that such instances will not recur. Visva-Bharati requests her parents to send her back to Patha Bhavana, a statement issued by the universitys Registrar said. The university is committed to holistic and humanised education,in the highest of traditions set by its founder,Gurudev Tagore,and make its schools centres of excellence in the contemporary world, the statement added. A two-page interim report on the issue has been submitted to the Prime Ministers Office by the university. The report relates the sequence of events that led to the hostel warden forcing the Class V girl to lick her own urine and gives the wardens version. A committee has been appointed under a dean to inquire against the issue and submit a detailed report on the incident. The girls father,Manoj Mistry,has lodged a complaint with Bolpur police station alleging that his daughter was forced to drink urine that was squeezed into her mouth from the wet bedsheet by the warden. The warden,who was arrested on Mistrys complaint,has been released on bail. Poddar faces sections 341,269 and 270 of the Indian Penal Code for wrongful detention and negligent acts.
