CHITRADURGA: A nine-year-old boy was brutally kicked and beaten up by a teacher at the Sanskrit Vedadhyayan Residential School, run by the Hindu Religious Institutions and Charitable Endowments Department, at Nayakanahatti of Chitradurga district. The only mistake of the homesick boy, Tarun, was to call his grandmother.
The incident occurred in February this year, but came to light only now.
The video, shot by another student at the school, shows the teacher, Veeresh Hiremath, first hitting the boy with a stick. He then threatens the boy, saying, “If you call from any other number, you will not be allowed to live.”
School’s strength drops from 30 to 4
The teacher then goes on to knock the boy to the ground and kick him in the stomach.
After the video went viral, Veeresh had gone missing. The police traced him to Kalaburagi and brought him to Chitradurga. The school is affiliated to Guru Thipperudraswamy temple, whose executive officer Gangadharappa filed a complaint against Veeresh.
Tarun quit the school after the incident and is now continuing his studies at his hometown. Additional Deputy Commissioner BT Kumaraswamy told TNIE, “We have registered the complaint against the teacher, who was appointed by Hindu Religious Institutions and Charitable Endowments Department. He has since been suspended from service.”
DC T Venkatesh, too, said, “After receiving information from the tahsildar and executive officer of the temple, action was taken against the accused teacher.” The school imparts Vedic and Sanskrit education to students after regular classes and school hours.
The students are provided with food and accommodation by the temple. Soon after the video went viral, information was gathered from the tahsildar, Child Development Scheme Officer, BEO, DDPI and the Executive Officer of the temple, the DC said. Last February, when the incident occurred the school had around 30 students and the strength has come down to four now. Action has been taken to hand over these children to the District Child Protection Unit, he added.
The temple executive officer did not inform the district administration of the incident and was lax in performing his duties. A show-cause notice has been issued to him, the DC said.
A report has been sent to the government, giving details of the incident, he added.
