INDIA: Teacher beats pupil to death

[18 May 2013] - A teacher flew into a rage and beat up an eight-year-old boy; slapping him, dragging him by the ear and bashing his head against a wall, as his classmates looked on in horror. The Class-III student Bapi Jourdar, who was admitted to hospital after Wednesday's attack battered and bleeding, died on Friday.

Champa Mondal, the teacher, who police said was a mother of two, was arrested and charged with culpable homicide.

The injured child was not taken to hospital or given any first-aid until the school gave over some three hours after he was beaten, said people familiar with the event. Bapi started vomiting uncontrollably when he reached home and was taken to three hospitals before being finally being admitted to Kolkata's SSKM hospital around 4am on Thursday. 

"I do not understand how a teacher, a woman at that, can be so cruel to a small child," said the boy's mother Sunita Jouardar.

The death comes barely a week after Purulia boy Monoboth Singh died after his English teacher allegedly hit him on the head for not doing his homework.

Bapi was in Nirdehskhali Natun Pally Shishu Siksha Kendra, a five-minute walk from his home in Canning, some 50km from Kolkata. On Wednesday morning, when he reached school, boys were already jostling to for seats in the cramped classroom. Bapi and a classmate got into a fight and started throwing each other's bags out of the room. This drove the teacher into a rage.

Champa screamed at Bapi and allegedly started slapping him. Then, the teacher dragged the little boy by the ear and banged his head against the classroom wall, according to the police complaint. The traumatized boys fell silent after this. No one dared to protest as Champa carried on with the class.

But by the time Bapi reached home around 11am, his mother noticed that the otherwise chirpy boy was quiet and distressed. On prodding, Bapi broke down and narrated the incident to his mother. Since, the family couldn't see any serious external injuries; they did not take Bapi for a medical check-up immediately.

"But I got worried when my son started vomiting in the afternoon. We took him to Canning sub-divisional hospital, but his condition kept deteriorating," she said. Bapi was moved to Calcutta National Medical College on Wednesday night and referred from there to SSKM on Thursday afternoon where a team of neurologists tried to save his life.

"When the boy came to us the head injury had worsened. Despite our best efforts, he died around 4am on Friday. The body is being sent for post-mortem," said Tamal Ghosh, SSKM medical superintendent. Doctors suspect the head injury had caused massive internal bleeding.

"Unfortunately, such incidents are not uncommon," said educationist Pabitra Sarkar. "It is a cause of major concern. There is the need for a social introspection. Teachers should be counseled and trained on how to deal with children," he said. The teacher refuted the allegations. "Why should I bang the boy's head on the wall? I am a mother of two and I cannot commit such cruelty. I only slapped the boy as a punishment for creating nuisance in class," said Champa.

As the news of the boy's death reached Natunpara, angry residents laid siege to Basanti police station, where the teacher was being interrogated. They alleged that Champa regularly beat up children. Sensing trouble, police shifted the teacher to Canning. She will be produced in court on Saturday.

pdf: http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2013-05-18/kolkata/39353960_...

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