Author: IANS
Publication: The New Indian Express
Date: December 23, 2003
URL: http://www.newindpress.com/Newsitems.asp?ID=IEP20031218072752&Title=States&Topic=0
Though the Jharkhand government
has made Hindi mandatory in its offices, a Class 4 student in a private
school here was brutally beaten because he dared to speak in the language.
Subham, a student of Ranchi Carmel
Residential School, was first beaten and then asked to crawl on his knees
all over the campus. He was not allowed to tell his parents about the incident.
The issue surfaced only when his
uncle visited the hostel on December 11. Subsequently, his parents lodged
a police complaint about the incident.
According to the complaint, Subham
was chatting in Hindi with his friends on November 29 when the hostel warden
and some teachers appeared on the scene. Finding him speaking in Hindi,
they beat the 10-year-old with sticks and asked him to crawl in the campus.
Blood started oozing from his knees
but it made little difference to the teachers who asked him to crawl up
a flight of stairs.
It stopped after he complained to
the school principal. His health deteriorated but he was not given medical
treatment, the complaint said.
"Whenever my parents telephoned,
the teachers stood beside me and told me not to say anything. I was even
denied medical treatment," Subham has said.
His parents stay in Koderma district,
about 170 km from here.
The school is keen to settle the
issue after the police complaint but the parents are determined to get
justice for their son.
The school principal refused to
speak on the issue.
