NHRC notice to Delhi government, police chief over student hospitalised after being beaten by teacher

NEW DELHI: The NHRC has issued a notice to the Delhi government and city's police chief over a student being hospitalised days after he was allegedly beaten up by a teacher at his school, officials said on Friday.

In a statement, the commission has observed that despite several legislations, the incidents of corporal punishment continue with impunity, which is a "cause of concern". The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) said it has "taken suo motu cognisance of a media report that a student of a government school in Delhi had to be hospitalised after a severe beating by his teacher".

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His parents have registered an FIR in the matter. However, no arrest was made by the police, it said. The Class 6 student of a government school in northeast Delhi's Tukmirpur area was hospitalised days after he was allegedly slapped by a teacher over forgetting to bring his Hindi textbook, police said on Thursday.

On Saturday, police received information from GTB Hospital that a 12-year-old boy had been admitted after he was beaten up by his school teacher on August 7, a senior police officer said. The NHRC said the contents of the media report, if true, amount to a violation of human rights.

Accordingly, it has issued notices to the chief secretary, government of Delhi and the commissioner of police, seeking a detailed report within four weeks. The report should also include the action taken against the responsible teacher, the status of the FIR registered in the matter, the health status of the victim student and compensation, if any, paid to the aggrieved family.

The commission would also like to know about the steps taken or proposed to be taken to ensure that such incidents do not recur in future, it said. Issuing the notices, the Commission has noted that the National Policy for Children 2013 states that in education, the state shall ensure that no child is subjected to any physical punishment or mental harassment and to promote positive engagement to impart discipline so as to provide children with a good learning experience.