Uttar Pradesh teacher Tripta Tyagi has 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. In the video message, the 60-year-old teacher and principal of Muzaffarnagar's Neha Public School says, "I made a mistake, but there was no Hindu-Muslim motive. The children had not done their homework and my intention was to ensure that they memorise (the lessons)."