Shimla Govt School Teacher Booked For Asking Class Monitor To Slap Classmates Who Failed During A Quiz

Shimla: A case has been registered against a government school teacher in Shimla for instructing a student to slap classmates who gave incorrect answers. The case has been filed under Section 115 (2) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (voluntarily causing hurt) and Section 75 of the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015 (cruelty to children), following a complaint by a Class 10 student, police said.

The incident occurred on Monday when the teacher was quizzing students after assigning them a task to memorise Sanskrit words.

During the quiz, the teacher asked the class monitor some questions, which she answered correctly. However, around 10-12 other students failed to respond. The teacher then instructed the monitor, who is also the complainant in this case, to slap those who failed to answer. The monitor obeyed the order but slapped her classmates softly.

Noticing this, the teacher confronted the monitor, criticising her for being the class monitor yet unable to slap students properly. The teacher reportedly also slapped two other girls who had given correct answers.

According to reports, the complainant informed officials that she found the teacher's behaviour scary, as the teacher often claimed that even if students reported her actions to their parents, no one could do anything to her.

Not a first time when such an incident had surfaced. Many a times in the past, cases have surfaced where teachers resorted to physical  punishment against students to teach them a lesson or maintain discipline. However, such behaviour or conduct by teachers have often been questioned as this takes a toll on students mental health.

In 2023, a case had surfaced from Uttar Pradesh's Muzaffarnagar where a private school teacher asked students to slap a fellow Muslim classmate one by one, because he got his multiplication wrong.

The teacher, Tripta Tyagi, who was the principal of Neha Public School was also witnessed making communal remarks against the student. A video of the incident had also gone viral showing the students slapping their 7-year-old classmate, on directions from the teacher.

An FIR was registered against Tripta Tyagi following a complaint by student's father after which a judicial action was initiated against her.