A 15-year-old Dalit student from Haripur village in Mainpuri district, Uttar Pradesh, reportedly suffered multiple injuries after allegedly being thrashed by his teacher for touching the teacher’s water bottle. The incident occurred on Saturday at a private higher secondary school.
The student, a Class 11 student, told The Times of India that he was thirsty and picked up a water bottle from a table. Upon touching the bottle, the teacher, Mangal Singh Shakya, allegedly became enraged, saying, “How dare you touch the bottle? Now, it has become untouchable. Who will drink from it?” The student claims the teacher then confined him in a room after school hours and beat him severely. The teacher allegedly continued to assault the boy after he threatened to report the incident to his parents.
The student went to the Kishni Police Station to file a complaint but claimed no action was taken initially. However, after meeting with Mainpuri SSP Ganesh Prasad Saha on April 1, the student was assured that an investigation would be carried out. Following this, an FIR was filed against the teacher under sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) for causing grievous hurt, wrongful confinement, criminal intimidation, and other relevant sections of the SC/ST Act.
SSP Saha confirmed that the case has been registered, and the investigation is being led by Bhogaon DSP Satya Prakash Sharma. The SSP also responded to claims of police inaction, stating that the complaint had been duly considered.
However, the school manager, Rakesh Chauhan, denied the allegations. He stated that the student had left the school in 2023-24 and only returned to request a character certificate. According to Chauhan, when the student was asked to return on Tuesday due to the absence of the principal and manager, he began misbehaving with a clerk and tore a register. Other staff members intervened to control the situation, and the manager suggested that the teacher “may have used some force to restrain the boy” but denied that the student was thrashed over the water bottle.
The investigation into the matter continues, with authorities looking into both the teacher’s actions and the school’s response.
