KOLLAM: A 12-year-old Class VI student was allegedly tied upside down and assaulted on suspicion of theft at a residential school in Punalur. The police have arrested a cook and hostel warden of the institution in connection with the incident that happened on April 30.
The school houses children from economically weak backgrounds. According to the complaint, the cook suspected that the Class VI student had stolen Rs 500 from him and he tied the boy upside down using a rope. “The boy was allegedly threatened and assaulted. The warden helped in the act,” the boy’s relatives said.
“Both the accused have been booked under Sections 75 and 82 of the Juvenile Justice Act, along with Sections 118(1), 115(2) and 3(5) of the BNS,” a police official at the Punalur police station said. They have been remanded in judicial custody and lodged at the Kottarakkara sub-jail.
The boy’s uncle, V R Rajan, alleged that the accused first beat him with a bamboo stick, demanding that he tell the truth. “He was then hung upside down by the cook, Liju, after which the warden also joined in,” Rajan said.
He said the boy informed the family about the incident when he was brought home for holidays. Following this, he was taken to the Punalur Taluk Hospital the next morning. He said there were injury marks on the boy’s legs and back. “A complaint was lodged with the Punalur police by noon the same day,” he said.
Meanwhile, the school management claimed that the cook had not tied the boy upside down, but only “frightened” him. They said he has been dismissed from service following the incident.
“We had come to know that Liju was a drunkard and were planning to terminate him. We are not sure if it’s the thought that he was going to lose his job that prompted him to accuse the boy of stealing his money. The student didn’t complain to us about any torture. We came to know about the incident when the police called us,” said the school director.
