Taking into account the recent spike in the child rights violations being reported from across Hyderabad, the Telangana State Human Rights Commission on Saturday issued notices to the Hyderabad City Police and the Education Department and has sought a response from both in a weeks time.
The notices came on the same day city-based child right activists approached Commission on Saturday with a letter pointing to the rising number of instances where the state’s education system has failed to safeguard children.
This came just days after the recent death of a Class 7 student, who killed himself over the non-payment of school fees on Wednesday.
In the letter addressed to the chairperson of the State Human Rights Commission, the activists raised concerns about the lack of adequate protection for child rights in the state. The letter pointed out that children in schools are being subjected to corporal punishments for even something as small as laughing in class and are also being harassed over non-payment of school fees. The letter called upon the Education Department and city police to attend to the matter with diligence.
The letter listed out the number of growing instances of child right violations from across the city and called it a worrisome trend.
A 12-year-old boy, M Mahesh, killed himself early morning on Wednesday. His parents told the police that the child took the drastic step as he was not allowed to enter the school due to non-payment of fees. The incident took place under the Musheerabad police station limits. The letter sent to the State Human Rights Commission claims the child was denied entry for a non-payment of mere Rs 2,000 school fees.
A nine-year-old girl, B Vinoothna, studying in Oxford Grammar School in Himayat Nagar, Hyderabad, was allegedly beaten by her class teacher for not plaiting her hair, as per the school dress code.
A 10-year-old Class 6 student of St Francis School in Secunderabad had to be taken to hospital after her school’s physical education teacher allegedly made her run 60 rounds around the school ground for not doing her homework.
Children were also physically abused at some schools for laughing and for playing, all the above-mentioned instances took place between the months June and July alone, pointed out Achyuta Rao, Honorary President with Balala Hakkula Sangham, a non-profit working for better child protection rules in the city. “The Human Rights Commission has taken note of our letter and has issued notices. The commission has said they will do the needful to urge the concerned authorities to adopt steps aimed to prevent any such further incidents from happening,” he added.