Agra: A Dalit student on Friday, January 30, was allegedly assaulted and abused with casteist slurs by a teacher and a school official in Uttar Pradesh‘s Manipuri district for a broken pipe.
According to a Times of India report, the incident that took place in the Kurawali area had left the 14-year-old student with serious injuries, with marks on his back and limbs, leading to difficulty in walking. He was also allegedly told to “stay away from the school” by the accused.
The victim’s elder brother filed a complaint later that day against school committee member Rajeev Verma and the student’s class teacher, Sukhbir Singh.
In his statement, the victim reportedly said, “I was feeling thirsty, so I went to drink water and noticed that the pipe of the water tank was broken.”
He claimed that even though he pleaded with the officials, he was assaulted and “threatened with death.”
“I was blamed for breaking the pipe. I kept on pleading that I did not break the pipe, but nobody listened to me. I was beaten, abused with casteist slurs, and threatened with death if seen again on the school’s premises,” his statement read.
Following the complaint, the police registered a first information report (FIR) under sections 115 (2) (voluntarily causing hurt), 352 (intentional insult designed to provoke breach of peace), and 351 (3) (criminal intimidation) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS). The FIR was also registered under the Scheduled Caste/Scheduled Tribe Act.
The victim’s family maintained that their 14-year-old son was unfairly targeted and that it was another student who damaged the pipe.
Meanwhile, the school official, Rajeev Verma, denied the allegations, saying, “This is a false case against me. I wasn’t even there. The class teacher could be present. I’m not aware. I’ll soon meet the police officers, and I hope there’ll be a fair probe.”
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