TIRUNELVELI: A class 9 student hacked his classmate using a sickle inside their classroom at a government-aided school at Eruvadi on Thursday.
Though the two boys belong to different castes (the boy who attacked hails from a dominant caste and the victim is from an SC community), the officials of the school education and police departments have ruled out any caste angle, saying the attack was the fallout of the quarrel the two had on Wednesday.
“The injured student, taken to a private hospital, required several stitches on his back. Another student from a dominant caste sustained minor injuries while trying to prevent the attack,” a police official said.
Chief Educational Officer M Sivakumar, who conducted an inquiry at the school, said the boy had hid the sickle in his schoolbag and entered the classroom before the headmaster’s routine checking.
A teacher said the injured student had lost his father years ago and his mother is a person with disability. After treatment at the hospital, he was sent back to the hostel where he is staying, he said. The juvenile in conflict with the law was questioned at the school, produced before the Juvenile Justice Board, and sent to an observation home, said a police official.
Speaking to TNIE, CPM district secretary K Sriram said this is not the first such incident, and asked the state government why such incidents happen only in government and aided schools.
“The government should hold headmasters and teachers accountable. If private school teachers show casteist mindset, they lose their jobs, but government school teachers often escape action by relying on political or association support. SC students facing such attacks suffer psychological trauma, and live in fear throughout their lives. The government shying away from implementing Justice K Chandru committee’s recommendations is not acceptable,” he said.
When contacted, School Education Minister Anbil Mahesh Poyyamozhi said his department is taking various measures to prevent clashes between students.