Teacher targeting one community: SC on Muslims schoolboy slap case
The Supreme Court (SC) on Monday reportedly condemned the teacher from Uttar Pradesh's Muzaffarnagar, who last month instructed her students to slap their Muslim classmate. The court said the accused "targeted one community." Adding the state government should take responsibility for the incident, the top court ordered the appointment of a senior Indian Police Service (IPS) officer to monitor the probe. It also sought a report on the investigation within three weeks.
Why does this story matter?
To recall, the video of a seven-year-old Muslim boy slapped by his classmates on their teacher Tripta Tyagi's orders went viral on social media last month and triggered a massive nationwide row. Tyagi, a teacher and the principal of the Neha Public School in Muzaffarnagar, Uttar Pradesh, could also be heard passing derogatory remarks in the clip regarding the boy's faith.
SC bench lays into accused teacher, calls matter 'serious'
Calling it a "serious issue," the SC bench of Justices Pankaj Mithal and Abhay S Oka questioned the state government, "Is this the way teachers teach students - is this quality education?" "State (government) must take responsibility for this incident. Has the school appointed some counselor for the child? If this incident has happened, then it should shake the conscience of the state. We will go deep into this," India Today quoted the bench as saying.
Key details left out in FIR by cops: SC
NDTV reported that the apex court also expressed severe objections to the content of the FIR filed in the matter, which does not contain the allegations previously leveled by the father of the victim. The court noted that the boy's father earlier alleged that his son was beaten because of his religion, but that was not mentioned in the FIR.
Court orders expert counselor for victim, highlights RTE Act
Furthermore, the bench reportedly asked the state government to conduct counseling for the victim boy and other students involved in the incident by professional counselors. The court said it was a matter of failure for the UP government to comply with the Right to Education (RTE) Act. Notably, the RTE Act prohibits mental and physical harassment of students and their discrimination based on caste and religion.
Recalling teacher's response to incident
Notably, after the video of the incident went viral, Tyagi told NDTV in August, "I am not ashamed. I have served the people of this village as a teacher. They all are with me." "They have made laws, but we need to control the children in schools. This is how we tackle them," added the accused teacher from Muzaffarnagar.
