BARIPADA: In a horrifying incident, Class VI student of an SC and ST Development (SSD) department-run residential school in Mayurbhanj’s Basipitha was allegedly brutally tortured - his hands tied and slashed with blades - by seniors after he reported their alcohol consumption in the hostel to the headmaster.
The incident took place on February 15 but came to light after the 13-year-old boy refused to return to the hostel. He had fallen sick and come home where he even made a suicide bid.
The victim was a student of Basipitha SSD High School under Khunta police limits. According to the FIR filed on Wednesday by victim’s father Manoranjan Behera, the school headmaster was seized of the matter but did not act against the erring students on the grounds that it would sully the image of the institution. Behera is a resident of Bhugudakata village under Bhanjpur police station.
On February 13, two days before the incident, the boy heard some noise on the roof of the hostel at around 9 pm.
When he went there, he found a group of senior consuming alcohol. The next day, he reported the matter to the headmaster who sent him back to the hostel, the complaint said.
The next day, the seniors called the boy to room no 5 of the hostel where his hands were tied to an iron rod and they rained blows and kicks on him. The complaint said they used shaving blades to inflict cut injuries on the boy and even rubbed salts on the wounds. This continued for four hours from 12.30 pm till 4.30 pm in the room locked from inside. The seniors also threatened to kill him and his parents if he disclosed the incident to anyone.
The minor returned home on February 16 and suffered from fever and stomach pain. The family consulted a doctor but due to the minor running high temperature, Behera said, he wanted his son to return only after recovery. However, the boy was reluctant to go back to the hostel. When the family enquired, he spilled the truth.
“He feared for his life. Apprehending that he may be sent back, he once went to the nearby railway line to end his life but locals informed us and we brought him back,” the father stated in the FIR.
Based on his complaint, Khunta registered a case under Sections 126/296 and 115 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and initiated an investigation.
Khunta police station in-charge Panchanan Mohanty said that strict action will be taken against those responsible for the incident.
The incident has once again exposed the sorry state of affairs of the tribal residential schools of the state.