Phulbani: Three girl students of the Mahasingh Nodal UP School in Kandhamal district were injured today after being allegedly beaten up by their headmaster for not sweeping classroom floor. The injured were rushed to Baliguda hospital in Kandhamal where their condition is stated to be stable now.
As per reports, the headmaster, Harish Chandra Sahoo asked one of the girls to sweep the class but she walked away without listening to him. Sahoo reportedly lost his temper over such disobedience and began punishing the students. The thrashing was so severe that two girls lost their consciousness, informed sources.
“I heard him tell another girl to sweep the floor but she did not listen. After some time, he came up to me and started hitting me and another girl. He also hit the girl who was earlier asked to sweep the floor,” said one of the injured students.
Block Education Officer, Pramod Kumar Mallick who rushed to the spot said that the incident is being probed. “The headmaster hit only one of the students. It is to be investigated why the other two girls fainted,” said Mallick adding that a probe will be conducted and action will be taken against the guilty.
It may be noted that the State government has banned corporal punishment in schools. Meanwhile the incident has invited sharp criticism from across all sections.
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Former Kendrapara MP Baijayant Panda urged for strict action against the headmaster and to ensure child safety in schools of Odisha."What’s happening in our state? Not at all acceptable! This is highly despicable and speaks volumes of state of education," he tweeted.