"Should Shock Conscience": Supreme Court On Muslim Boy Slapped At UP School

Stating that if the allegations are true, it should shock the state's conscience, the Supreme Court today ordered that a senior IPS officer be appointed to monitor the investigation in the case where a seven-year-old was slapped repeatedly by his classmates on the instruction of their teacher in Uttar Pradesh's Muzaffarnagar. Calling it "serious and worrying", the court said it's a matter of right to life. A video of the incident had gone viral earlier this year, causing massive outrage. As the student stood crying, his classmates took turns to slap him, showed the video. The teacher was also heard in the video asking the students to hit him hard. The court directed the UP government to conduct counselling of the victim, and other students involved in the incident, by professional counsellors.

The top court adjourned the matter for October 30, and directed the Uttar Pradesh government to file a compliance report on counselling of students involved, and take responsibility for the education of the victim child.

The Supreme Court also recorded serious objections to the content of the FIR, which does not have the allegations levelled by the father of the child. The father had given a statement that his son was beaten because of his religion, but it wasn't mentioned in the FIR, the court said. It's a matter of quality education, which also includes sensitive education, the court said, adding that it is a case of failure on the part of the UP government to comply with provisions of the Right to Education Act, which deals with providing quality, free and compulsory education to children up to 14 years, without any discrimination on the basis of caste, creed, or gender.

The Supreme Court was hearing a plea filed by Tushar Gandhi, the great-grandson of Mahatma Gandhi, seeking speedy investigation in the case.

The Uttar Pradesh government claimed that the communal aspect of the case was exaggerated.

On September 6, the Supreme Court had issued a notice to the UP government asking for a report from the District Superintendent of Police. It asked what action had been taken against the accused, and what steps were taken to protect the child's family.

The accused 60-year-old teacher, who is also the principal of Muzaffarnagar's Neha Public School, Tripta Tyagi, first said she was not "ashamed" of her egregious act, but later put out a video message, stressing that she had no communal motive behind asking students to slap their Muslim classmate. With folded hands, she repeated that she had "made a mistake" and sought forgiveness.

Politicians across the party lines had condemned the incident as a hate crime, targeting the ruling BJP government in the state.