Slapped by principal for wearing slippers to school, class 12 girl dies in Jharkhand

GARHWA: A class 12 student, who was allegedly slapped by the principal in-charge of her school for coming to the institute wearing a slipper a month ago in Jharkhand's Garhwa district, died in a hospital on Tuesday, police said.

Wearing slippers does not comply with the dress code of the school. On September 15, Divya Kumari came to the school and attended the assembly session wearing a slipper instead of shoes.

Principal (In-charge) of the school Droupadi Minz allegedly scolded and slapped her for not following the rules, a police officer said. Though the student appeared alright initially, she fell sick with depression later. Following initial treatment at a hospital in Daltonganj, she was referred to Rajendra Institute of Medical Sciences in Ranchi, where she died in course of treatment.

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Her parents lodged a complaint with the Bargarh police station in this regard. Enraged family members of the girl along with villagers put up a blockade on the main road at Tehri Bhandaria chowk with her body and raised slogans against the school management.

The protestors alleged that Divya died due to the mental torture by Minz and demanded her arrest. Police and district administration officers rushed to the spot and and pursued the protestors to withdraw the blockade, assuring them that action would be taken against the culprits.

The road traffic was disrupted for over three hours due to the blockade. The principal refused to speak on the matter.