OLD GOA
In a shocking incident, a teacher at a school in St Estevam was accused to have beaten around 11 students of Std 9 on Thursday morning.
The teacher was booked by Old Goa police late in the evening and is likely to be arrested in this connection.
Four of the students were taken to the GMC Hospital for a check-up after their parents complained at the Old Goa police station.
The four students have suffered injuries on their forehand, shoulder and thigh region.
One of the students informed The Goan at the Old Goa police station that the teacher beat 11 students and stopped only when another teacher told her so.
"There were two more students who escaped the beating of the teacher," the student added.
The students further informed that they were playing cricket in the class when the teacher came because of the noise and took them to the hall where she started beating them.
“When one of us protested, the teacher started beating him more,” said the student.
According to one of the parents, whose son was beaten by the teacher with a wooden stick, the Std 9 students were playing in the class when the teacher, in a fit of anger, started beating the group of students.
"Around 11 students were beaten and four among them, including my son, suffered multiple injuries," said the parent.
“When we learnt of the incident, we rushed to the school and later to the police station to lodge complaint against the teacher.”
“However, the management of the school was trying to coerce us into withdrawing the complaint stating that a memo has been issued to the teacher. But we are firm on our complaint," the parent added.
Meanwhile, in one of the police complaints, another parent stated that they received a call from an unknown number asking them to remain present at the school over some issue.
"My husband and I went to the school and waited outside the headmistress' office, but for around 5-10 minutes nobody told us what has happened," stated the parent in the complaint.
The parent added that they went inside the headmistress' office, who told them that one of their teachers had made a mistake.
The complainant then stated that finally their son, aged 14, was brought and she noticed swelling around the shoulder at the triceps region.
"I asked my son what happened and he narrated that one of the teachers had beaten him with a wooden danda, along with three other students, without any reason or mistake on his part. My son protested the act of the teacher and he, in turn, asked the teacher not to beat them like this as she has no authority to do so, she hit him more and more," the complainant added.
The complaint further stated that they later came to know that three more students from the class were also beaten up.
"The headmistress and other teachers attempted to settle the matter amicably, with the teacher apologising for her act," the complaint stated.
Further, the students were apparently taken by the school management for treatment in a private hospital in Corlim.
That is when one parent dialled 100 and intimated the police, after which an Old Goa police team went to the site and started investigation in the matter.
The accused teacher was also brought at the police station and was being interrogated.
Meanwhile, the Old Goa police have registered an offence under Sections 118 (1), 352 BNS and Sec 8 (2) of Goa Children’s Act 2003 and the teacher is likely to be arrested in this connection, as investigations are in progress.
