A 15-year-old Dalit student in Gujarat’s Morbi district was allegedly assaulted and humiliated by his school owner on Tuesday.
According to police, the Class 10 student of Gyan Ganga School in Wankaner was attacked by the school’s owner, Yogendrasinh Zala. The boy’s father, a 40-year-old sanitation worker, filed a complaint at Wankaner City police station under Section 115(2) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, and Section 75 of the Juvenile Justice Act.
The father said he was informed about the incident around 1 pm by a local resident, Siddharth Vaghela, who told him that Zala had beaten his son. The boy returned home shortly after and recounted the ordeal. He said that while he was eating snacks near a girls’ school, Zala confronted him, hurled casteist insults, and told him he was “not worthy of education” before kicking him in the groin. The boy reportedly felt dizzy and collapsed for a short while before being taken to Wankaner Government Hospital, where he underwent a sonography and treatment.
Police have handed the investigation to the deputy superintendent of police of the Morbi SC-ST Cell. Officers said they are searching for Zala, and further details about the motive and the casteist abuse will be known once he is arrested.
