In a shocking incident, a student was severely injured when a lady teacher hit him with a steel scale after he failed to answer questions during the English oral examination, at Chinmaya School, Jayalakshmipuram, here on Tuesday.

A second standard student, Nitin (6) sustained severe injuries on his head, face, hand and leg when his teacher, Mamatha, assaulted him.

However, the teacher was suspended, following a protest staged by parents of the student, Lakshmana and Pushpa and residents of Padavarahalli, on Wednesday.

Mrs Pusha told reporters that the teacher had hit her son in the very first period on Tuesday, as he failed to come out with proper answers. He did not go back home for lunch in the afternoon. They came to know about the fact only in the evening, when they noticed the injury marks on his face.

She lamented that the frightened child had remained tightlipped  about the incident. He had also not  eaten his breakfast on Wednesday morning.

The agitators who gathered at the school on Wednesday morning, demanded that the teacher  be suspended.

They also demanded that an amount of Rs 25,000 should be provided for the boy’s hospital expenses. They called off the protest on the assurance with regard to the second demand.

Meanwhile, Block Resource Co-ordinator Ramaradhya who immediately rushed to the spot, announced suspension of the teacher. “The school management board had appointed her as a temporary teacher.

She should not have manhandled the boy,” he stated. Management board president H N Ramatheertha also confirmed her suspension. The teacher, Ms Mamatha, defended herself  saying that she did not hit the boy hard and that he was injured when he tried to escape the beating.

Besides, father of Aishwarya, another student of the same school, Ramakrishna, also a resident of Padavarahalli, charged that a teacher named Deepika had assaulted his daughter a couple of weeks ago. He added that the  management board had taken no action despite his complaint.

Blind students tormented

In another incident, students of the government school for blind children at Tilaknagar on Wednesday staged a protest, alleging that the temporary teachers of the school were harassing them.

They claimed that as many as seven students who questioned the authorities, had been ousted from the school after being denied food for two days. They also alleged that they were also being made to go without food.

The students accused temporary teachers Suresh, Mahesh, Shabbir and Ali Khan of subjecting them to physical and mental harassment. They were reportedly being made to fetch  cigarettes. The teachers have also been accused of taking classes rather late.

The protestors alleged, though they had complained to the school superintendent, she had not initiated any step against the teachers. Instead, she was reportedly threatening to file police complaints against them. They added that no officer had come to listen to them. “We have no place in our homes. Even here, we are in the same situation,” they rued and pleaded for  justice.