SIVAGANGA: The State Human Rights Commission (SHRC) has recommended the state government to take disciplinary action against a government schoolteacher for making a Class VII student to do 600 sit-ups within days of her attaining puberty in 2017 and also to pay a compensation of Rs 2 lakh to the girl’s mother.
While giving the recommendation on Tuesday, SHRC member V Kannadasan stated that the compensation can be recovered by the government from the schoolteacher.
The girl’s mother V Pandiselvi of Sivaganga had filed the complaint seeking appropriate action against R Chitra, the Tamil teacher (BT assistant) who had punished the girl at a government higher secondary school in SS Kottai village.
In the complaint, Pandiselvi stated that Chitra had forced her daughter to do 200 sit-ups on October 24, 2017, and 400 sit-ups the next day for not doing homework.
“This happened within 10 days of her attaining puberty. Because of the sit-ups, my daughter had stomach pain, heavy bleeding, vomiting and severe fever.” After receiving the complaint, the SHRC forwarded it to chief educational officer to inquire and send a report.
The CEO in a February 2018 report recommended the joint director of School Education (Personnel), Chennai, to initiate departmental inquiry against the teacher. Based on medical documents and others, the SHRC stated it was a violation of human rights before recommending disciplinary action.