The distressing incident of a Muslim child being subjected to physical assault in a Muzaffarnagar school has now made its way to the Supreme Court. In a significant development, Tushar Gandhi, the great-grandson of Mahatma Gandhi, has filed a petition urging the court to initiate legal proceedings, including the registration of an FIR, against the female teacher involved in the incident.
New Delhi: The case concerning the assault of a Muslim child in a school in Muzaffarnagar has escalated to the highest judicial authority in India, the Supreme Court. Justice Abhay Soka’s bench is scheduled to conduct a hearing on this matter today, September 6, 2023. Tushar Gandhi, the great-grandson of Mahatma Gandhi, has implored the court to take appropriate action against the female teacher responsible for the assault.
The incident in question recently caused an uproar at Neha Public School, Mansoorpur, situated in Muzaffarnagar, Uttar Pradesh (UP), after a video depicting the child’s assault went viral. The father of the child alleged that the teacher had instigated the child to engage in physical altercations with classmates, allegedly due to the child’s community background. In her defense, teacher Tripta Tyagi claimed, “The child’s parents had requested that we be strict with him as he was not completing his homework. Given that he has a disability, we asked other children to help him by engaging in mild physical reprimands.”
In response to the incident, the district education department has issued an order for the school’s closure. According to the Muzaffarnagar District Education Department, the school’s registration, which was granted in 2019 for a three-year period, expired in 2022, prompting the closure directive. Students who were enrolled in the school have since been accommodated in other educational institutions.
Following the widespread dissemination of the video, which led to public outrage across the country, the local police registered a First Information Report (FIR) against the teacher. In an official statement, the police clarified that a teacher in Khobapur village had been charged in an FIR for allegedly instructing students to physically reprimand their classmates for failing to complete homework assignments. The FIR was filed based on a complaint lodged by the child’s father.
The victim in this case conveyed, “I couldn’t remember a particular concept, so one of my classmates slapped me. The teacher instructed them to do so. Subsequently, they subjected me to an hour of physical abuse.” The boy’s cousin disclosed that he had visited the school on an errand, where he witnessed the teacher instructing other students to slap his brother.
