RANCHI: In a shocking incident at a Jharkhand Girls Residential School in Latehar, as many as 170 girls fell ill after they were made to do 200 sit-ups by the warden as a punishment for not attending games class on Thursday.
Many of the girls lost consciousness after doing the sit-ups while most of them complained of intensive pain in their legs following which they were given first aid in the hostel by the school staff. When the condition of at least 10 of those girls deteriorated further, they were taken to the local health wellness centre for treatment the next day on Friday.
“Since we did not attend the games class on Thursday, we were asked to do 200 sit-ups by the warden Elizabeth Kumud Toppo,” told a student Sabita Kumari studying in class VII.
After being informed about the incident Block Development Officer Pradeep Kumar Das reached the wellness center on Friday and took stock of the situation.
“I was told by the girls that after the games period, they were punished by the warden to do 200 sit-ups for not attending the class following which they complained of intensive pain in their legs and many of them got uncurious,” said the BDO.
Will soon prepare a report and hand it over to the district headquarter, he added. When contacted, the warden said that having the burden of all the students in school, she does not want to work there anymore and wants to be shifted from there. She admitted that she had punished the students for not attending the games class.
“Out of the total of 176 students, only six girls attended the games class, due to which, they were punished to do the sit-ups,” told the warden.
Local public representatives have demanded strict action against the warden for such irresponsive behaviour. Earlier also, complaints were made against the warden but no action was taken against her, they said.