Imagine asking your teacher for a pee break and then getting mercilessly beaten up just for having the audacity to answer nature’s call?! Well, that is exactly what happened to class 3 student Shubhangi Chatterjee. A student of Calcutta Airport English High School, Shubhangi was allegedly punched, slapped and then dragged away from her bench as her classmates watched in horror. The incident came to light after her mother, Tanusree Chatterjee, wrote a Facebook post that went viral.
It was Monday morning and Shubhangi was dropped off to school at 7am, as is usual. According to her mother, at around 10am, she approached a substitute teacher, Indrani Roy, to ask if she can use the washroom. Her lower abdomen was hurting and she was feeling uneasy. The teacher refused permission and Shubhangi went back to her seat and whispered to something to her friend. This is what seems to have got the teacher’s goat.
According to Tanusree’s Facebook post, Shubhangi was “punched, slapped and then dragged out of her bench”. She sustained several injuries to her knees, legs and head. That was not all, the girl was then dragged all the way to the school washroom and pushed inside and the entire ordeal went on for two periods!
Speaking to The Quint, Tanusree said:
Shubhangi’s classmates tried to stop the teacher, even pulling her away so that the teacher would stop beating her. They repeatedly told ‘Indrani ma’am’ that Shubhangi was not feeling well and was even having trouble breathing.
The incident took place on Monday and Tanusree, bewildered as to why her daughter was so inconsolable, only managed to take stock of the situation by Tuesday. She complained to the school authorities and was assured of action. She was expecting an apology phone call from the teacher in question, Indrani Roy. But that was not to be.
Shubhangi was suffering from severe trauma and had to be taken to RG Kar Hospital in Kolkata. Tanusree then took to Facebook to narrate the ordeal and got an overwhelming response from other parents who said that Ms Roy was known to be violent with kids from time to time.
“The matter is over now. The teacher in question has been asked to go on leave. The school committee will decide the future course of action,” said an official of the Calcutta Airport English High School.
Tanusree maintains that her grievance is not with the school, but the specific teacher in question who did not have courtesy to so much as place a phone call and enquire about her daughter after mercilessly beating her up.
Incidents of corporal punishment in schools and homes have come to light in the recent past. The latest being a video clip of singer-composer Toshi Sabri’s niece that went viral. The clip showed the small girl being slapped cruelly because she couldn’t read out numbers.
“What has happened to my daughter can happen to anyone. I urge the guardians and the school authorities to take action against the teacher,” Tanusree said.
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