'Should Shake Conscience': SC Asks UP Govt To Appoint IPS Officer To Probe Student Slapping Case

Muzaffarnagar Student Slapping Case: A video of a seven-year-old boy being repeatedly slapped by fellow students after being directed by a teacher had sparked outrage last month.

Representational image. The incident happened at a school located at Khubbapur village in Uttar Pradesh's Muzaffarnagar district

Source : Getty

Saying that the incident should "shake conscience of the state", the Supreme Court on Monday asked the Uttar Pradesh government to appoint an IPS officer to conduct investigation into a case where a seven-year-old boy was slapped by fellow students after being directed by a teacher at a school in Muzaffarnagar. The bench said the IPS officer should file a report in the apex court within a week.

The Supreme Court also directed the UP govt to conduct counselling of the victim and other students involved in incident by professional counsellors.

The school is located at Khubbapur village in Uttar Pradesh's Muzaffarnagar district. Last month, a video went viral showing students repeatedly slapping a 7-year-old on the instructions of their teacher. The teacher could also be heard referring to the faith of the seven-year-old and urging the students to hit him hard.

Muzaffarnagar Student Slapping Case: What The Supreme Court Said

"This is a very serious issue. Teacher telling students to hit a classmate because they belong to a particular community. Is this quality education? State must take responsibility of the education of the child. If the allegations are true, this should shock the conscience of the state," Justice Abhay S Oka said, Live Law reported.

Expressing disquiet over the manner in which the case was handled by the government, the Supreme Court questioned the delay in the registration of the FIR and the omission of allegations made by the victim's father regarding communal targeting.

The SC bench, also comprising Justice Pankaj Mithal, further observed that there was "prima facie failure" on the part of the UP government to comply with the Right to Education Act, which bars physical and mental harassment of students and their discrimination on the basis of religion and caste, Live Law reported.

"There cannot be any quality education if a student is sought to be penalised only on the ground that he belongs to a particular community. There is a prima facie failure on the part of the State to comply with mandatory obligations of RTE Act and rules," Live Law quoted the Supreme Court as saying.

The top court asked the Uttar Pradesh government to submit a status report on implementation of RTE Act in schools across the state in four weeks, PTI reported.

The teacher, Tripta Tyagi, who is also the principal of the school, has been charged under IPC sections 323 (causing hurt) and 504 (intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of peace). However, she has not been arrested.

After the incident led to outrage, Tyagi released a video, saying there was no communal aspect to the incident.