Principal beats pupils with wires

Two 16-year-old boys were allegedly whipped with wires by the “principal” of a private school in west Delhi’s Najafgarh on Tuesday. One of the victims approached police and filed a complaint upon which the man was arrested, police said.

The victims sustained injury marks on their backs and were discharged after treatment at a hospital. They have claimed that when they demanded to know the reason for being thrashed, they were beaten more for “answering back”.

One of the two victims has claimed to have been meted out the corporal punishment by the principal even in the past.

“The principal Manjeet Singh had thrashed me one-and-a-half years ago too. He had then threatened to expel me from the school if I complained against him,” the victim said. Similar threatens of expulsion were made even on Tuesday, he alleged.

The two students Sahil and Mohit Khatri are in class 12 at The Dev Public School located at Najafgarh’s Jharoda Road. Sahil returned home on Tuesday and showed bruises on his back, allegedly inflicted by lashes meted out with cable, a police officer told Deccan Herald.

Sahil’s father immediately led him to Baba Haridas Nagar police station to file a complaint.
The boy was sent to a hospital for treatment. Police soon learnt that even Mohit had been briefly admitted for treatment of injuries, allegedly received in the beating.

“A case of voluntarily causing hurt and punishment for cruelty to a child was registered and the accused principal Manjeet Singh arrested,” said the officer.

While the victim claimed that the accused Manjeet is the school principal, the school website showed another person as the principal and one Manjeet Singh as the chairman. Several attempts by Deccan Herald to contact the school administration for their version of the incident proved futile.

“The kids were beaten over a complaint received by the school authorities from some other children. The school said the issue was also related to the children’s academic performance,” said the officer.