Fed up of running errands, Pune teacher consumes poison

Pune: Thirty eggs and a chicken to be put on his superior's table every week drove a teacher to attempt suicide on the premises of a school in Pune.

According to a complaint lodged by school teacher Dattatraya Gaikwad's father, the 27-year-old employed with Sundarbai Marathi Vidyalaya consumed poison on Tuesday afternoon as he could no longer bear the harassment he was facing from school authorities.

Admitted to the ICU in Rakshak hospital in Kharadi, the teacher's condition was serious.

In a complaint to the Yerawada police, Gaikwad's father Genba said headmaster Sanjay Somvanshi harassed his son for five years, making him run personal errands while dangling the carrot of a permanent job before him.

"My son was a teacher, but was made to do work worse than a peon's," said Genba. "He was made to do menial jobs like picking up Somvanshi's children from school, getting his gas cylinders, and the like."

Genba alleged the harassment extended to demands for weekly household supplies, which amounted to asking for and taking a bribe.

"He was made to supply 30 eggs and a chicken every week to the headmaster's house," said Genba.

"The headmaster ensured my son did these things by promising a permanent job early compared to others, who would have to wait eight years."

Genba said just before the suicide bid, an altercation had occurred between headmaster and teacher over the unkept promise.

"I have learnt the headmaster had in the past similarly harassed a peon and suspended him. It was only after the peon went to the human rights commission that he was taken back on the job," said Genba.

Senior Police Inspector Deepak Sawant of the Yerawada police station, who is investigating the case, said as of now it was the teacher and not the headmaster who was held to have committed a crime by attempting suicide.