Five-year-old Princessa returned home from school on Tuesday with badly bruised legs.
A teacher of a popular south Mumbai school is now at the receiving end of the stick. She was arrested for caning a kindergarten student for jumbling up a number. The Gamdevi police arrested Michelle Anthony, a teacher at St Columba Girls High School, for thrashing Princessa Prashant Bugade (5), who had written '31' instead of '13' in her class work.
The girl returned home on Tuesday with bruises on both her calves. After much coaxing, the girl revealed that her teacher had beaten her up with a scale for her mistake. While the teacher claimed that the child probably fell down and injured herself, a J J Hospital report showed that the injuries were inflicted by a blunt object.
Her parents then approached the police. "We registered a case under section 324 (voluntarily causing hurt with dangerous weapons or means) of the Indian Penal Code and arrested the teacher, Michelle Mark Anthony (29), of St Columba High School. She was produced before the Girgaum court and was granted bail," said Rajaram Prabhu, senior inspector (SI) of Gamdevi police station.
The girl's father also alleged that the school was threatening to expel his daughter. "The teacher is telling lies. I asked other students and they told me my daughter was beaten up. Now, the management claims they will expel my girl, because I took up a case against them. I have complained to the police about the school's threats as well," said Prashant Bugade, the girl's father. SI Prabhu said that a non-cognisable offence had been registered. This reporter's attempts to get in touch with the school principal or management were met with no response.