At least one student said he was asked by the teacher to strip as punishment.
Highlights
- K Koteswara Rao suspended from school in Krishna district
- At least one student said he was asked by teacher to strip as punishment
- Teacher alleged to have come to school drunk, drank in students' presence
The Andhra Pradesh government has suspended a school teacher prone to drinking in class before his students whom he also used to allegedly abuse. Action was taken against him after a video of his misdemeanour went viral recently. At least one of his students has alleged that the teacher forced him to strip as punishment.
K Koteswara Rao was suspended yesterday from a mandal parishad school in Krishnapuram in Palaka Mandal of Krishna district. He is alleged to have come to the school drunk and even consumed alcohol in his students' presence inside the campus.
A video, which recently went viral on social media and on messaging apps, shows Mr Rao having food in the school staff room with a liquor bottle next to him on a table. He is seen and heard apparently abusing a parent who questions him.
When confronted, he dares the parent to video-record him even as he offers to undress before her. The woman is also seen encouraging students to speak out against Mr Rao, with one of the children saying that he was asked to strip as punishment by the teacher.
The students said he would keep the bottles of alcohol in the washroom or the almirah and drink regularly from it. He would become vulgar and behave in an obscene manner after getting drunk, one of them said.
Several parents of the school's students said they had been upset for a while now over the teacher's behaviour. "We gathered video evidence and complained to the education officials because it is such a bad influence on children," said a parent, identified only as Renuka.
The Mandal Revenue Officer has now issued a memo to Mr Rao demanding an explanation.