Mamta (in black shawl), the mother of the girl outside Hindu Rao Hospital.
| Photo Credit: Today News 24
A primary school teacher has been arrested for attacking a Class V student with a pair of scissors and then pushing her off the first floor of the government school building, the police said on Friday.
A huge crowd gathered outside the school following the incident that took place at the Nigam Prathmik Balika Vidyalaya in Karol Bagh’s Model Basti area, the police said.
“The teacher, Geeta Deshwal, 26, bolted the classroom door from inside and started throwing water bottles before grabbing hold of a girl. She then hit the girl with a pair of scissors and then pushed her off the balcony,” a senior police officer said.
Another teacher who tried to intervene was also shoved aside by the latter. However, it is not known whether she sustained any injuries. “We haven’t received any complaint from her so far,” the officer said, adding that the motive behind the incident was not clear yet. A case of attempt to murder under Section 307 of the Indian Penal Code has been registered based on the statement of eyewitnesses.
DCP (Central) Shweta Chauhan said the police were informed about the incident by a bystander around 11.15 a.m. on Friday. The injured girl, Vandana, 10, was rushed to the Hindu Rao Hospital for treatment and is said to be out of danger. In a statement, the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) said all tests and scan reports of the girl are “normal, and the child is safe, stable and responding well”.
“The child has been referred to the Safdarjung Hospital for further management. The MCD will bear all expenses of the treatment,” it said.
A student of the school told Today News 24 that the teacher had threatened to hit her as well.
‘Punish her’
According to Vandana’s father, Laxman, the accused would often threaten to beat the students. “When I received a call from the school today, I couldn’t believe she actually flung my daughter from the balcony,” Mr. Laxman told Today News 24.
Mr. Laxman and his wife Mamta, natives of Darbhanga in Bihar, have been living in Delhi with their three children – aged 13, 10 and 5 – for some years now. While Laxman works as a cook, his wife earns a living as a domestic help. “We work really hard and send our children to school to get a good education, not to get beaten by their teacher,” said the mother.
Saying that his daughter has sustained injuries on her face and legs, Mr. Laxman demanded severe punishment against the teacher. He alleged that another family had complained about the same teacher for harassing their child. “We came to know they took their child out of the school and got her into a different school,” he said.
Her uncle Sanjay said: “Vandana is quite well-mannered and doesn’t talk much. We don’t know what triggered the teacher to threaten all the children. We demand the strictest possible action against the teacher,” he said.
Complaining about the poor condition of the school, a resident of the area, Sandu, said the headmaster and senior officials barely visit the school, sometimes “just once a month”. “Children have complained about the teacher [Deshwal] in the past as well. Why was no action taken against her by the authorities?”
An MCD official, however, denied receiving any complaints against the teacher. “She was hardworking and there were no complaints against her. However, last week she had punished a child for not doing her homework following which the parents had complained about the teacher,” the official said, adding that Deshwal was appointed to the school in 2019 and taught various subjects.
While the teacher has been suspended with immediate effect, further investigation into the incident is being conducted by the department, a senior MCD official said.
