Mumbai Crime: Teacher thrashed daughter, broke her arm, say parents

The girl fractured her elbow in the alleged beating

The parents of a 13-year-old have filed an FIR after a teacher allegedly hit her in class, causing a fracture. The St Teresa's Convent High School in Santacruz, where the girl is a student, has refuted the parents' allegation.

'Beaten by teacher'
The incident allegedly took place on Monday in the school.

"My 13-year-old daughter had an argument with three other girls in class during recess. When she approached the teacher with a complaint against them, the teacher called her crazy and beat her. Due to the beating she hit a table, which led to injuries to her elbow, ribs and head. We did not know about it until the next day, when my wife was helping her get ready for school," said the Std VIII student's father, Imtiaz Baig, adding that the girl on Tuesday morning started crying, refusing to go to school.

Baig further said, "When I asked her the reason, she finally told me about the incident on Monday and also complained of severe pain in her left elbow. We then took her to Bhabha Hospital where doctors asked us to approach the police after seeing the injuries."

The girl's hand was put in a cast. The parents lodged an FIR with the Santacruz police on Tuesday.

'Called names by teachers'
Baig also said the girl's IQ is a little lower than other children, and so she has been subjected to such name-calling by teachers in the past too. "We agree that she is only average in studies. But my daughter has never failed a class and there should not be any reason for teachers to call her crazy. We hope strict action will be taken by the police," he said.

Shriram Koregaonkar, senior police inspector of Santacruz police station, told mid-day, "We have registered an FIR and the primary investigation is on. We will take action after it."

'A baseless case'
The school has refuted the allegation levelled at it by the parents. Its spokesperson said, "It is a completely baseless case. No such incident of beating by a teacher has happened in the school. If she was injured on Monday in school, somebody in the school would have noticed it, or at least the parent would have known about it on the same day instead of on Tuesday."

The spokesperson added, "The child has been average in studies throughout. In the month of February, the child has also been absent for many days."

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