UP: Six-year-old Dalit boy allegedly forced to clean toilet!
The child’s mother filed a complaint with the police, accusing principal Sandhya Jain and class teacher Ravita Rani of discriminating against her son because he was a Dalit.
Published on: 08 Aug 2024, 3:04 pm
Lucknow: A six-year-old Dalit student was found locked inside a classroom after he was allegedly forced to clean toilets by teachers at a government primary school in Jansath, Uttar Pradesh. The incident, which took place on Tuesday, has led to disciplinary action against the school principal and a teacher, according to police reports.
The child’s mother filed a complaint with the police, accusing principal Sandhya Jain and class teacher Ravita Rani of discriminating against her son because he was a Dalit.
She alleged that teachers regularly forced the boy to clean school toilets and due to their negligence, he was kept locked inside the classroom even for an hour after school closed.
The mother said that when her son did not return home from school, she started enquiring from other students, but no one could give any information about his whereabouts. Worried, she rushed to the school, which was already closed, and heard her child crying from inside. It was only after the intervention of local villagers and family members that teacher Ravita Rani’s husband arrived with the keys to open the classroom lock.
Rani’s husband claimed that the child might have fallen asleep and got locked inside unknowingly.
After the incident, Basic Shiksha Adhikari (BSA) Sandeep Kumar said that Principal Jain has been suspended and teacher Rani has been given an adverse entry in her service record. A two-member committee headed by the Block Shiksha Adhikari of Jansath and Shahpur has been constituted to investigate the matter and it is expected to submit its report within three days.
Kumar further stressed that all school staff have been instructed to thoroughly check the classrooms before locking them for the day.
Principal Jain defended himself, saying he had been wrongly blamed for the incident, and insisted that the responsibility lay with the class teacher. “Even if the child was sleeping, he should have been checked before locking the classroom,” he insisted.
