Indian School Student Thrashed by Teacher Dies

A 15-year-old school student, thrashed by her teacher, died in New Delhi on Wednesday.

Rinki Kaushik, a student of class X had been battling her injuries for more than three months.

Doctors said, "She had been suffering from a major complication in the brain which was aggravated due to the assault. We operated on her to treat the problem. For some time, she even responded. However, the prolonged illness left her immune system weak and she developed major chest complications while at the hospital. She was on ventilator from February 26."

Rinki’s father Naresh Kumar has charged that Dheerendra, a teacher in the Dinkar National Model School in the Indian capital had thrashed her mercilessly for not taking tuition from him. He is also the son of the school principal.

“Rinki initially took private tuitions from Dheerendra, who taught Mathematics and English for Rs 400. We discontinued the tuition since he was not good,” said Kumar.

Thereafter Dheerendra constantly snubbed the girl, according to the First Information Report (FIR) lodged with the police.

The situation took an ugly turn on November 3. “When she raised a doubt in the class, Dheerendra taunted her saying that she could consult her private tuition teacher and Rinki retorted saying he had better answer because she was paying the school fees,” said Kumar.

An enraged Dheerendra slapped the girl and hit her with a stick repeatedly. She fell unconscious when she received blows on her head.

“Seeing her collapse, Dheerendra asked the other students to go home and the school was closed abruptly. My daughter was locked inside the classroom till she regained consciousness,” said Kumar.

Dheerendra and the school principal then allegedly threatened to ruin the girl’s career if she discussed the incident with anyone.

The girl initially told her parents that she was down with fever. Her condition deteriorated within a week, and her parents took her to a private hospital where tests revealed that a vein in her brain had been damaged, leading to a clot.

“We admitted her in Maharaja Agrasen Hospital where she underwent an operation on January 7,” said Kumar. She was in the ICU ever since.

Kumar leased his house to raise money for her treatment. He lodged a police complaint and even wrote to the state Education Minister and the Joint Commissioner of Police, following which only a case was registered, a month after the incident.
Dheerendra has since then been absconding.

The school though claims that that the girl has died of an old injury received in an accident.

Source-Medindia
GPL/L