School teacher booked for caning, using racial epithets against 13-year-old student

The rural police in Maharashtra have arrested a teacher from a village in the Daund taluka of the Pune district after he allegedly caned a 13-year-old student and hurled casteist insults at him. According to reports, the pupil belonged to the Scheduled Caste group.

A First Information Report (FIR) on the matter has been filed at the Yavat Police Station based on the complaint made by the student’s family. The event took place inside the school on Wednesday at 3:30. An offence was filed in the case early on Thursday, according to reports.

Inspector Narayan Pawar, the in-charge of Yavat Police Station, said: “The boy’s family complained that the teacher had caned the student on his back while classes were going on. The student, who is a member of the Scheduled Caste community, is also accused of receiving casteist insults from the teacher. The teacher has been charged with the offence that was registered in the early hours of Thursday.”

The media reported that although the teacher has not yet been detained, he has been accused of physical assault, malicious insult, and criminal intimidation under the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, and various sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).