GUWAHATI: A school student in Assam died two days after he was brutally beaten up by his teacher for allegedly teasing a girl in his school.
The police, who arrested the teacher on Saturday, told Express that they had no knowledge about the eve-teasing incident.
The death of the class X student, Tarit Sonowal of Kutoha High School in Dibrugarh district, around 550 km east of Guwahati, sparked outrage.
Protestors, mostly students of the school and their parents, blocked a national highway located in front of the school for several hours on Friday. They demanded ‘exemplary’ punishment be given to the teacher, Reba Kalita. The victim’s family alleged that the student was beaten up several times by the teacher causing multiple injuries on his body leading to his death. Two sticks that were used to thrash the student got broken, they claimed.
The cause of the student’s death was yet to be ascertained, police said.
“At this moment, we don’t know what caused his death. Our focus is on finding it out,” Dibrugarh district police chief Bir Bikram Gogoi said.
“The body has been sent for post-mortem and we are awaiting the report,” he added.
The incident occurred on Wednesday. Tarit Sonowal was initially admitted to a private hospital but his condition soon deteriorated. He was then shifted to the Assam Medical College and Hospital in Dibrugarh town. He later died on Friday night.
A girl belonging to the school had earlier lodged a complaint with the arrested teacher alleging that she had been teased by Tarit Sonowal, according to reports. A relative said that the family was in a state of shock and wanted justice.
Tarit Sonowal was an excellent student, he said, and added that he could not believe that the pupil had lost his life at the hands of his own teacher, who was supposed to guide him through life.