6-Year-Old Dalit Boy Forced to Clean Toilet in Uttar Pradesh School, Later Found Locked in Classroom

The Basic Education Department has taken action against the school’s principal and a teacher. The incident took place on Tuesday when a six-year-old student of class one was found locked in the school classroom, allegedly due to the laxity of Principal Sandhya Jain and class teacher Ravita Rani, police said. A police complaint has been filed by the child’s mother, alleging that the two teachers had forced her son to clean the toilet due to a “hatred” against Dalit children. She claimed that her son remained locked in the classroom for over an hour after the school closed.

Upon finding the school closed, the mother heard her child’s cries and called the principal. Teacher Ravita Rani’s husband eventually arrived with the keys to open the classroom. The Basic Shiksha Adhikari (BSA) Sandeep Kumar stated that the principal has been suspended and the teacher has been given an adverse entry. A probe into the matter has been ordered with a two-member committee tasked to submit its report within three days.

Principal Jain claimed that the class teacher was responsible for the incident, stating that even if the child was sleeping, the classroom should have been checked before locking it. The school staff has been instructed to check the classrooms before closing the school. The police are currently investigating the matter. *(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.

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