Five-Month Pregnant Teacher Manhandled By Students In Assam

A five-month pregnant teacher was allegedly manhandled by a group of students in Assam's Dibrugarh district after she informed the parents of one of the pupils about his poor academic performance and conduct in the school, officials said on Tuesday.

The Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalaya's Vice Principal, who is acting as Principal in-charge, was also heckled along with another teacher by a group of students of class 10 and 11 of the school in Moran area.

According to Rathees Kumar, the Vice Principal, the incident took place on Sunday evening after the victim history teacher informed the parents of a particular student about his poor academic performance during the Parents Teachers Council (PTC) meeting the same day.

"After the meeting, some students formed a group and started harassing the teacher in front of the main academic block. A few of them pushed her and one student tried to pull her by her hair," he said.

She was saved by some other women teachers, school staffers and a few girl students from the mob attack of the boys, Mr Kumar said.

Shocked by the incident, she was on the verge of collapse as she already had some complications due to pregnancy. She was immediately sent to a hospital in the school car along with a woman attendant.

"From our enquiry, we found that 22 students of classes 10 and 11 were involved in the incident and I called their parents the next morning after having an emergency meeting at my residence. Hearing the development, this time the students threatened me over the phone and started moving towards my quarters to attack me," Mr Kumar said.

He then fled his quarters and reached Moran Police Station along with some other teachers. Police reached the school premises and warned the students of strict action.

A senior police official said no FIR has been registered yet as a formal complaint is yet to be filed against the minor students.

Mr Kumar said, "We have informed the office of the Dibrugarh Deputy Commissioner about the development. The ADC concerned for education assured us of a magisterial probe into the incident and asked us to take stern action against the students." He further said that higher officials of JNV management have been informed of the situation and a decision is awaited.

Meanwhile, Navodaya Vidyalaya Samitee Deputy Commissioner (North East) K V Suresh expressed concerns over the incident and termed it as "most unfortunate".

"I am sending the Assistant Commissioner of JNV Samitee to Dibrugarh to enquire into the matter. In recent times, we have noticed a decline in the student-teacher relationship owing to several factors, especially after lockdown," he told PTI from Shillong.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)