Lucknow: UP police booked a primary school teacher in Muzaffarnagar district on Saturday, a day after a purported video of her encouraging students to slap their classmate, a frightened and weeping eight-year-old Muslim boy, triggered massive public outrage.
Police registered a case against accused teacher Tripta Tyagi under sections 504 (insulting someone intentionally to provoke them) and 323 (voluntarily causing hurt) of the IPC. This came even as lawyers pointed out that the case was about “abuse of a minor with a profound communal tinge”. Local police had said a day earlier that “her remarks were objectionable and strong measures would be taken once they receive a complaint”.
Lawyer SM Haider Rizvi, meanwhile, moved the NHRC seeking registration of a case under sections 153-A (promoting enmity between different groups…) and 295-A (deliberate and malicious acts, intended to outrage religious feelings).
The complaint filed by the child’s father, Irshad, at Mansoorpur police station stated: “My son went to school on August 24 where his teacher asked him to read the math tables which he couldn’t. The teacher then asked his classmates to slap him one by one. She even asked some of them to whack him harder. My nephew Nadeem was at the school for some work. Surprised by what he saw, he recorded a video of the incident and the teacher could be seen passing remarks against Muslims.”
Accepting it as a “mistake” on her part, Tyagi termed it a “minor issue” and said that she “never wanted to make it communal”. In her defence, she said, “I’m handicapped. So, I asked the students to punish him. The video was made to go global and even national leaders commented on it. It is a conspiracy.”
DM Arvind Mallappa Bangari said, “Initially, the child’s parents did not want to take any action, probably fearing that it may affect their son’s education. Later, they came forward with a complaint.”
Irshad, a local mechanic, said, “I want peace and harmony in my village. Let the law take its own course.” The boy’s mother, Rubina, added, “I had confronted the teacher as to why she allowed other children to beat my son. She was definitely wrong…”
Nadeem, who shot the video, pointed out, “The teacher clearly passed remarks against Muslims in front of little kids. She also said that ‘our women, in particular, don’t pay attention to their children’s studies at home’.”
Local politicians made a beeline to both the teacher’s and the student’s homes as opposition leaders such as Rahul Gandhi of the Congress and the Samajwadi Party’s Akhilesh Yadav slammed the BJP for “spreading hatred in the country”.
