Three incidents of corporal punishment in Bangalore

The menace of corporal punishment reared its ugly head again in the City, with three separate incidents being reported on Tuesday.

Police arrested a caretaker staff (daadi) of the Daisy Nursery in Ambedkar Nagar, Whitefield, belonging to the Building Block group of institutions. Sujatha was held following a complaint by Vijay Kumar of Gandhipuram, who alleged that she subjected his four-year-old daughter to corporal punishment. 

In his complaint, Vijay stated that he spotted burn marks on her daughter when he went to fetch her from school in the afternoon. After checking with other guardians, he found out that five other children had similar marks on them.

Angry parents resorted to sloganeering against the school management and demanded action against the staff responsible. The Whitefield police swung into action and arrested Sujatha after recording statements of all parties.

Sujatha, a cook at the school, said she had no intention of hurting the children. “They were making noise as there was no teacher in the class. I grabbed a spatula and tried to scare the kids. I did not know that it was hot,” she said. Around 74 children study in the school established in April 2010.

In a separate incident, Mohammed Fayaz of Shivajinagar lodged a complaint with the High Grounds police station against Nirmala, a teacher at St Mary’s public school on Queens Road, for slapping his nine-year-old son.

Fayaz alleged that Nirmala had slapped his son for not completing his homework, thus breaking his front tooth. The boy was in tears when he returned home. He narrated the story to Fayaz after he returned from work. The police are investigating into the matter.

Another incident was reported from a private school in Yelahanka New Town where a class VIII student was allegedly subjected to corporal punishment. Parents of the girl said a teacher had beaten their daughter for using a mobile phone inside the classroom.
However, no complaint was lodged as the police played the mediator between the parents and the school administration.