Bengaluru teacher arrested and made to issue apology for assaulting class 7 boy, leaving him with swollen face

Bengaluru: A class 7 student at a private school in the city was allegedly beaten by a physical education teacher over a minor transgression, leaving the boy with injuries on his face.

The teacher, 42-year-old Rajesh, wrote an apology letter after the boy's father filed a police complaint against him. However, police have arrested him under Section 75 of the Juvenile Justice Act.

In his police complaint, the boy's father alleged that the teacher hit the 12-year-old in front of other teachers in the school on December 5. The assault left the boy with a swollen face, and he was not allowed to leave the school until 5.30 pm.

When the boy did not return home after school hours, his worried father arrived at the school and was shocked to learn about the assault. He then took the boy to a private hospital for treatment and reported the matter to the police the next day.

Preliminary investigations revealed that the boy had allegedly moved the chair of a fellow student when he tried to sit in the classroom. The classmate suffered minor injuries and complained to the teachers.

Section 75 of the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act is a non-bailable offence, and courts have repeatedly held that when a teacher, in a moment of uncontrolled anger or rage, inflicts serious injuries causing physical or mental suffering to a child, such conduct squarely attracts more than three years' imprisonment, according to a senior police officer.