Victim teachers end strike after panchayat promises security

3 TEACHERS, INCLUDING PRINCIPAL, WERE ATTACKED WITH LATHIS AND HOSPITALISED ON DEC 30 BY FRIENDS AND KIN OF STUDENT PUNISHED FOR MISCONDUCT

ROHTAK:The teachers of Government Senior Secondary School in Kishangarh village of Rohtak’s Meham subdivision, who have been on strike for the past four days, ended their protest on Wednesday evening after the village panchayat offered security to them.

Three teachers, including the principal, of the school were beaten up with lathis and hospitalised on Friday last by friends and family members of a Class-8 student who was punished in school for misconduct.

The police booked around 25 people, including the student’s mother, under various sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).

Seven of them, who were arrested, managed to get bail within 24 hours.

This angered the teachers who kept the school closed for four days.

The staff of other schools in the area also suspended work in solidarity with these teachers and threatened a statewide strike, if stringent sections in the FIR were not imposed on the accused.

“We suspended work because the police initially took the matter lightly. The investigation officer in the case is related to the accused thus they all managed to get bail. Today, the village panchayat offered us security. Taking view of the future of the students, we decided to resume work from Thursday,” said Devender Kumar, one of the injured teachers.

The police said they have added more sections in the FIR on the complaint of the teachers.

“Two more accused arrested yesterday (Tuesday) have been booked in more stringent sections. Their bail has been rejected as well. Efforts are on to arrest the remaining accused,” a police spokesperson said.

On the other hand, the family members of the boy, whose relatives and acquaintances had allegedly assaulted the teachers, claimed that the boy had been badly beaten up by the teachers, but the police refused to accept their complaint.