The Supreme Court on Wednesday directed Muzaffarnagar Police to submit a status report on its investigation into the case against a teacher who ordered students in her class to slap their Muslim classmate by September 25, report Live Law.
A bench of Justices Abhay S Oka and Pankaj Mithal asked Muzaffarnagar Superintendent of Police Sanjeev Suman to inform the court about the measures taken to protect the seven-year-old student and his parents.
On August 24, a video of the Muslim boy being slapped by his classmates went viral on social media. The incident took place in Muzaffarnagar’s Neha Public School, owned by Tripta Tyagi, who was the teacher seen in the video asking the boy’s classmates to hit him.
“I have declared – all these Muslim children, go to anyone’s area,” she can be heard telling a man off camera who agrees. She then asks another boy to hit the Muslim student on his back, saying: “Start hitting him on the waist... His face is turning red, hit him on the waist everyone.”
Following the incident, author Tushar Gandhi, the great-grandson of Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, popularly called Mahatma Gandhi., had filed a public interest litigation before the Supreme Court.
In his petition, he had claimed that since Tyagi was booked, the student’s family was being pressured to compromise and withdraw the first information report. He had sought guidelines regarding preventive and remedial measures within the education system to prevent violence against children, including those belonging to religious minorities.
The slapping incident had attracted sharp reactions on social media, including from advocacy groups and Opposition leaders who described it as a “culture of hate”.
The Muzaffarnagar Police had booked Tyagi under Indian Penal Code Sections 323 (punishment for causing voluntarily hurt) and 504 (intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of peace). These are non-cognisable charges, which means that the police cannot arrest her without a warrant. The police also need permission from a court to start an investigation.
The police, however, told Newslaundry last month that Tyagi has not been charged under “serious sections” as she did not have “malicious intentions”.
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