BHUBANESWAR: In a shocking incident, a teacher of a primary school was made to kneel down and was humiliated in full public view in a Gram Sabha in Odisha’s Nayagarh district, police said on Sunday.
His fault: he allegedly showed favours to a group of students from his village while resolving their dispute with another group.
Teacher Sridhar Nayak, a resident of Baunsiapada village under Itamati police limits, was allegedly assaulted, forced to crawl on his knees and move between the legs of a member of the village committee while the entire act was videographed and later uploaded on social media.
Police have arrested Mayadhar Pradhan and Sanjay Pradhan of Balarampur village in this connection and initiated a probe. The incident took place on October 17.
According to police, Nayak, a teacher of Patachandi Prasad Project Primary School was invited by the villagers of Bijipur to the Gram Sabha at Balarampur to resolve the dispute between warring student groups of Bijipur and Baunsiapada.
“The teacher had a heated argument with a village committee member following which he was punished during the Gram Sabha. He was forced to kneel, abused and videographed,” said Inspector-in-Charge (IIC) of the police station Saroj Sahu.
Quoting from the complaint, the investigating officer said Nayak was forced to crawl through the legs of Mayadhar while his son Sanjay filmed the entire act. Even as the teacher begged apology and expressed his innocence, they did not stop. Later, his family members rescued him and informed the police, he said.
Meanwhile, Nayagarh SP Kanwar Vishal Singh has directed a sub-divisional police officer (SDPO) to inquire into the matter. He assured that the others, including the prime accused who presided over the meeting that day, would be nabbed soon.
Condemning the incident, Nayagarh teachers association has demanded immediate arrest of all the villagers present at the Gram Sabha.