A female teacher in West Bengal was brutally attacked and stripped naked by a group of parents of some children on Thursday after she reprimanded a girl who was in the class. Trimohini Pratap Chandra High Secondary School in South Dinajpur was the scene of the incident, which occurred despite the passage of three days without any police action against the offenders.
According to reports, teacher Chaitali Chaki reprimanded class nine pupil Jarnatun Khatoon on Thursday for loitering on the school’s veranda rather than attending class. Chaki did this by holding Khatoon’s ear. When the teacher allegedly hit Jarnatun on the back, her scarf allegedly fell off her head.
They were furious that the student’s headscarf had fallen because the teacher had struck her, infuriating them. They attacked the teacher after breaking into the school’s staff room. During the assault, they pulled Chaitali Chaki’s clothes, nearly stripping her naked. Other teachers were horrified to see this, but they were powerless to disperse the crowd.
The guardians, some of whom are wearing skullcaps, are seen assaulting the female instructor in the staff room, as seen in a video of the incident that surfaced on social media.
Police were called in to ease the intense anxiety this incident had created in and around the school. The following day, the district school inspector and the joint BDO visited the school to assess the situation.
Notably, the school’s principal, Kamal Kumar Jain, said that the situation had been addressed after a compromise between the two parties on Friday, a day after the incident. However, it was quickly discovered to be false because, despite a meeting between the two groups, no compromise was reached. In order to submit a case on the incident, the principal afterwards went to the police station with teacher Chaitali Chaki. A number of people, including Firdous Mandal, Afruza Mandal, Zakir Hossein, Masud Khatoon and Mafooja Khatoon have been named.
Police have not yet made an arrest, despite calls from the pupils and other parents to take action against the crowd for attacking the teacher. As a result, protests were held on Saturday throughout the entire South Dinajpur district calling for punishment for the offenders. In this regard, numerous complaints have already been made to the police by a number of people and organizations, including local BJP officials.
Yesterday, students from a number of local schools demonstrated and blocked National Highway 512. Several parents and previous pupils joined them. However, after a significant number of vehicles became stranded owing to the obstruction, police left the area to clear the route.
Teachers from a number of nearby schools participated in a separate protest march while covering their faces with backcloths. They had signs in their hands that denounced the incident and urged immediate action. At Balurghat, the All Bengal Teachers Association also organised a protest march to denounce the assault.
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