Two children in Class 3 and Class 5 were treated in an inhumane manner in their own school as their hands and feet were bound with a rope to a bench behind the teacher's desk. The children stayed in that position while the teacher continued to face the classroom, indifferent to the kids. “Madam said to tie me up so a fourth class anna came and tied my hands and legs to the bench,” Pavan, the boy from Class 3, told the media.
The incident took place in the Moosanpet Upper Primary School in Kadiri mandal, Anantapur district of Andhra Pradesh. The children have said that it was the Headmistress Sridevi who instructed a Class 4 student to tie them up because of their ‘mischievous’ behaviour. The headmistress, who is now under inquiry for corporal punishment, has shifted blame to the children’s parents. Speaking to the media, Sridevi said that the mother of one of the children had come to school, complaining that the boy had been bringing home books of children from higher classes and ‘stealing’ things from school. “His mother beat him up badly, tied him there and left. What can we say in front of her?” Sridevi asks, but did not take responsibility for the callous way her students were treated on school campus.
Sridevi also goes on to say that the Class 5 boy had been punished for writing a ‘love letter’ in a notebook. Sridevi says that it was the parents who tied the children’s hands and feet, but when questioned about her responsibility as the incident happened in school and not in the children’s homes, she said, “I did yell at the parents, but they said that the children would run away otherwise. We were busy with work so we thought of dealing with it later.” When told that the children were naming the headmistress and not their parents, Sridevi said, “They might just be blaming us because we keep reprimanding them.”
One of the two children talking to reporters inside the school
Child Rights Activist Achyuta Rao of the NGO Balala Hakkula Sangham has filed a petition with the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR), seeking action against the headmistress on the grounds of cruelty against children and for violating the children’s rights. The incident was also brought to the District collector’s notice. “HM Sridevi tied the children like cattle with the rope, on the pretext that they were not concentrating in the class,” the petition said. Balala Hakkula Sangham has demanded that departmental action must be initiated against the headmistress, apart from proceeding with a criminal case against her.
Speaking to TNM, APSCPCR (AP State Commission for Protection of Child Rights) Chief Ganta Hymavathi said that the matter has been discussed with the Municipal Commissioner and the District Collector. “We are waiting for the inquiry report, based on the findings we will initiate action. As corporal punishment is an offense, action will be taken accordingly. As of now, it looks like the children were tied up by the school authorities for ‘indiscipline,’” Hymavathi said.