UP: 15-year-old Dalit student dies after alleged beating by teacher, violent protests erupt
The accused, who belongs to an upper caste, is absconding.
A 15-year-old Dalit boy died during treatment in Uttar Pradesh’s Auraiya district on Monday after being allegedly beaten up by his upper caste teacher for writing a wrong answer during a test on September 7, The Indian Express reported.
His death triggered violent protests in the district. Two police vehicles were set on fire and two others were damaged. Some protestors also allegedly pelted stones at police officials.
In his complaint to the police, the boy’s father alleged that the teacher, Ashwini Singh, had assaulted his son with sticks, rods and kicked him till he fell unconscious, NDTV reported.
“He gained consciousness while being taken to a private hospital but had difficulty in breathing,” the boy’s father said, according to The Times of India. “Doctors said he had suffered internal injuries. In between, he was treated at several hospitals. He was being taken to Saifai on Monday, but died in the ambulance while being shifted.”
The father added that after the assault on September 7, Singh had promised to pay for the boy’s medical treatment, but only gave him Rs 40,000 in two instalments.
“During the course of our interactions, the teacher also misbehaved and abused us with caste-specific words,” the father alleged. “We then went to the police station and filed a report on September 24 against him.”
Singh was booked under Sections 308 (attempt to commit culpable homicide), 323 (voluntarily causing hurt) and 504 (intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of the peace) of the Indian Penal Code as well as under some sections of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, according to The Indian Express.
Superintendent of Police Charu Nigam said that when the authorities went to the school to arrest the teacher, he was absconding. “Police teams have been formed to arrest him,” she added.