Anger in India after pupils made to hit Muslim boy

Footage that appears to show a school teacher in India encouraging students to take turns to hit a Muslim boy has triggered shock and anger around the world.

- RITUPARNA CHATTERJEE

An undated video allegedly shows Tripta Tyagi, a teacher at Neha Public School in Muzaffarnagar, Uttar Pradesh, asking other children to hit a Muslin child who is in tears. Ms Tyagi then scolds the students for not hitting the child harder.

She is heard saying in the video, “jor se maaro naa… (Why don’t you hit him harder?)” as the child stands frozen in front of the class and his classmates walk up to him one by one to hit him across the face.

A police investigation was launched after an outpouring of anger on social media.

Dr Ravi Shankar, circle officer of Khatauli range in Muzaffarnagar, later said that the police were aware of a video in which children made to hit a classmate “who had not finished his school work”.

Muzaffarnagar district magistrate Aravind Mallappa Bangari said a complaint has been registered and the education department will also take action against the school. He appealed to residents to maintain peace and also said the children were being counselled and strict action will be taken against those involved.

However, in a separate video that later surfaced on social media, the teacher attempted to defend herself by saying that since she was disabled and could not get up to hit the child herself, so she made her other students do it. She claimed her act did not have any religious bias.