KHAMMAM: Following reports of over 30 Class X students being subjected to corporal punishment at the Mahatma Jyotiba Phule BC welfare girls’ residential school in Madhira, attempts to identify the reason behind the shocking act by the principal were initially met with stiff resistance.While outsiders were not allowed inside the campus, and staff and the new principal were not willing to talk on record. Even some of the girls were tight-lipped about the incident.
While one reason cited was the demand by the students for preparation of food as per the menu set by the State government, it appears that Naseema Begum, the principal who has now been suspended, might have taken matters into her own hands as she was frustrated by the low marks scored by 34 of the 69 Class X students in the internal examinations. According to sources, Naseema was under pressure from higher officials to maintain a perfect pass percentage this year too.
Team TNIE was allowed to enter the school premises but on the condition of leaving behind any mobile phones. An eerie silence was observed in the school and students were seen looking at us from their classroom windows.
The new principal, G Nirosha, who was appointed on Monday, said that the school is now running smoothly and the menu is being implemented as per the guidelines of the government. She said the former principal might have been aggressive against the students for scoring poor marks.
TNIE was able to talk to three students on the campus who had sustained severe injuries in the attack. Boda Ramya, daughter of a marginal farmer in Papatpalli village, said that the former principal remained moody most of the time. “I scored 13 out of 20 marks in an internal Math exam. On the day of the incident, she (Nassema) started bashing us one after the other as she was annoyed because almost 34 out of 69 students had performed poorly,” she added.
Another student, Jakkula Spurthi, a mason’s daughter and a resident of Ravinutala village, said she was beaten up for scoring 14 marks in the Math exam. Shaik Karisma, a native of Khammam who belongs to a labourer’s family, too had faced the same for scoring 11 out of 20 marks.