Arunachal school allegedly forces 88 girls to undress as punishment
A day after a purported video of a TN school forcing students to clean toilets surfaced, another is in the news for humiliating its students, this time in Arunachal. The Kasturba Gandhi Balika Vidyalaya (Papum Pare) allegedly made 88 girls undress as punishment. The incident happened on November 23, after the students wrote "vulgar words" for their head teacher. Here's what happened.
What happened?
According to the All Papum Pare District Students Union, someone had written indecent words about the head teacher and a girl student on a paper. Three teachers scolded all 88 students of classes 6-7, and as punishment, later made them undress before other students. The All Sagalee Students Union then filed an FIR. Police said the girls, parents and teachers would be interrogated.
Statement by the Arunachal Pradesh Congress Committee (APCC)
Condemning the incident, the APCC said, "Tampering with a child's dignity is against the law and the constitution. Undressing a student is not a corrective measure...Imposing such punishment is total violation of child rights, and more likely it may accelerate the risk of child abuse."
India has seen several student suicides over humiliation by teachers
Just days earlier, Chennai's Satyabhama University saw violent protests after a first year student hanged herself to death allegedly after being insulted by a teacher for cheating in exams. Earlier in August, a Class 7 student in the city jumped off a building after allegedly being humiliated by a teacher over menstrual stains. The fine line between 'punishment' and 'humiliation' must be respected.
