The Uttar Pradesh teacher who ordered students in her class to slap their seven-year-old Muslim classmate has not been charged under “serious sections” as she did not have “malicious intentions”, the police have said, Newslaundry reported on Saturday.

A case against Tripta Tyagi has been registered under non-cognisable charges. This means that the police cannot arrest her without a warrant. The police also need permission from a court to start an investigation.

Tyagi has been booked under Sections 323 (punishment for voluntarily causing hurt) and 504 (intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of the peace) of the Indian Penal Code.

Muzaffarnagar Superintendent of Police Sanjeev Suman told Newslaundry on Saturday that the case has been registered based on a complaint filed by the father of the boy who was slapped.

“We are investigating the matter and if required, we will add more severe sections,” Suman said, when asked about the communal remarks made by the teacher about the boy’s religion.

What happened?

The incident took place on Thursday in Neha Public School of Muzaffarnagar, which Tyagi owns. A video widely shared on social media shows that as one student strikes the Muslim boy who is standing in front of the class, Tyagi orders other students to get up and hit him harder.

“I have declared – all these Muslim children, go to anyone’s area,” she can be heard telling a man off camera who agrees. She then asks another boy to hit the Muslim student on his back, saying: “Start hitting him on the waist... His face is turning red, hit him on the waist everyone.”

The incident has attracted sharp reactions on social media including from advocacy groups and Opposition leaders who described it as a “culture of hate”.

As the video went viral, several users on microblogging platform X, formerly known as Twitter, shared screenshots of their tweets that were no longer visible on the site. The posts were said to have been withheld in the country “in response to a legal demand”.

Among the withheld posts was that of Shadab Khan, who was said to have first posted the video.

‘Not ashamed,’ says Tyagi

Meanwhile, Tyagi told NDTV on Sunday that she was not ashamed of of her act and what could be seen in the video was only a “minor issue”.

“This wasn’t my intention...I am accepting my mistake, but this was unnecessarily turned into a big issue,” she told the news channel. She also justified her action saying that it was important to control children at school, NDTV reported.

The Uttar Pradesh Education Department has ordered to shut down the school till investigation in the matter is completed, according to NDTV. The students will be admitted in nearby schools, the authorities said.