Teacher suspended for stripping girl student of school uniform in Mizoram

A school teacher in Mizoram's Lunglei district, who was arrested for allegedly stripping a six-year-old student of her uniform, has been suspended, an official said on Tuesday.

The suspension order was issued on Monday, school education department director H Lalthlangliana said.

The department had earlier served a show cause notice to the primary school teacher for her alleged misconduct.

“The woman teacher has been suspended for her misconduct with the student. She will remain under suspension with immediate effect until further order,” Lalthlangliana said.

The contractual teacher under the Samagra Shiksha programme had allegedly stripped the Class-I student of Thangpui Primary School in front of her classmates on August 25.

PC Lalbiakengi, the accused teacher, was arrested on August 27 after a complaint by a child protection unit was lodged, the police said.

A local court had on Sunday remanded her to 14-day judicial custody.

A case against the teacher has been registered under the Juvenile Justice Act 2015, the police said.

As per the agreement between her and the state project director of Samagra Shiksha, she will not be entitled to remuneration during the suspension period, the official said.

The student’s mother Nancy Lalnunsangi had claimed that her daughter was assaulted by a boy in the school on August 22.

“My daughter was beaten by her classmate (boy) after which she felt sick. She went to the school the next day as she was excited to go to school wearing the uniform for the first time this year," Lalnunsangi said. The parent of the girl also went to the school and scolded the boy. "The teacher rebuked me over phone and said she was not happy for my conduct with the boy. She also accused me violating school norms. Later she stripped my daughter of the school uniform," Lalnunsangi claimed.

The state’s apex student body Mizo Zirlai Pawl (MZP) also demanded her termination.