The Hindu : Front Page : HM inflicts burn injuries on students

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Saturday, Dec 03, 2005

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HM inflicts burn injuries on students

R. Vimal Kumar

Tuticorin: A popular belief is that the palm of a `thief' will suffer burns when shown over a flame.

Such a blind faith has led to the suffering of seven children studying in Panchayat Union Primary School at Kayalpattinam near here. It all started with Uma Parvathi, a class III teacher, raising a complaint on Thursday evening that Rs. 200 kept in her purse was missing. She reported the matter to the headmistress in-charge, Vasantha, and that she suspected the hand of a standard V student.

The headmistress paraded the 35 students of standard V in a hall and ordered them to place their palms above the flame of a candle. In the process, Shaik Mohideen, Anand, Nijanalingaprakash, Sureka, Karuppasamy, Syed Ali Pathuma and Lingam got their palms burnt. The matter came to the notice of Natarajan, Tiruchendur tahsildar, on Friday morning and he ordered an enquiry.

A team led by Ramasubramanian, a revenue inspector, and village administrative officer Brahmanayakam spoke to the teachers and affected students. The team confirmed that the seven children had suffered burns and the teachers were found prima facie guilty. The matter was reported to Mr. Natarajan, who, in turn, referred it to the Collector, V. Chandrasekaran. The Arumuganeri police have registered a case against Ms. Vasantha. Education department officials also conducted an enquiry and ascertained that the headmistress had committed the offence. The Collector has instructed the education department officials to initiate disciplinary action against the teacher responsible for the episode.

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