In a recent incident of Dalit atrocities, a 15-year-old student in Uttar Pradesh’s Mainpuri district was brutally beaten up by his teacher after the former allegedly touched the latter’s water bottle.
The incident occurred on April 1 at a private higher secondary school in Haripur village. “I was thirsty, and when I spotted the water bottle on a table, I picked it up. The moment I touched the bottle, my teacher, Mangal Singh Shakya, became angry and started saying, ‘How dare you touch the bottle? Now, it has become untouchable. Who will drink from it?'” the student was quoted by the Times of India (TOI).
The student alleged that he was locked up in the room where the teacher started beating him mercilessly. The attack resulted in the fracture of the teenager’s two fingers, injuries to his thigh, shoulder, and jaw.
Based on the Dalit student’s police complaint, an FIR was lodged against the teacher. “Mangal Singh Shakya has been booked under sections 117(2) (voluntarily causing grievous hurt), 127(2) (wrongful confinement), 351(2) (criminal intimidation), 352 (insult inciting breach of peace), and relevant sections of the SC/ST Act,” deputy superintendent of police (DSP) Bhogaon Satya Prakash Sharma told the newspaper.
However, school authorities have denied the allegations. They said that the Dalit boy was a 2024 passout. “The boy visited the school for a character certificate. The clerk told him to return on Tuesday as the principal and I were not present. The boy then began misbehaving with the clerk and also tore a register. Hearing the commotion, other staff members intervened to control the situation,” school manager Rakesh Chauhan said.
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