The Chhattisgarh High Court has ruled against a teacher’s request to dismiss a chargesheet following the suicide of a Class VI girl, highlighting that being small does not diminish a child’s humanity compared to adults, and that corporal punishment inflicts severe harm.
“It is cruel to subject a child to physical violence in school in the name of discipline or education. Child, being a precious national resource, is to be nurtured and attended to with tenderness and care and not with cruelty,” the bench of justices Ramesh Sinha and Ravindra Kumar Agrawal said.
The ruling came during the review of a petition filed by Sister Mercy, also known as Elizabeth Joseph, a teacher at a well-known school in Ambikapur. The FIR against her, under IPC Section 305, stemmed from the victim’s suicide note, which implicated the teacher. The note mentioned that Sister Elizabeth had confiscated the ID cards of the victim and her classmates.
The teacher’s defense argued that she had no direct involvement with the deceased, as she taught only Class IV students. On the day of the incident, the teacher had only reprimanded the student and taken her ID card as part of standard disciplinary measures, with no intent to cause harm. The defense suggested that the teacher’s actions were misinterpreted due to the deceased’s emotional state and peer influence.
In contrast, the state counsel pointed out that the victim appeared distressed and unwell upon returning home from school, which led to her writing the suicide note and subsequently taking her life.
The court concluded that using corporal punishment to reform a child cannot be justified as part of education. It rejected the petition, affirming that the evidence on record was sufficient to proceed with charges against the teacher.
