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HSS Bani High School principal, teacher suspended for beating up student who wrote ‘Jai Shri Ram’ reinstated

Posted on by angelo
HSS Bani High School principal, teacher suspended for beating up student who wrote ‘Jai Shri Ram’ reinstated

Mohammad Hafiz, the former principal of HSS Bani School in Jammu, and teacher Mohammad Farooq, who were suspended in August 2023 for beating up a student who allegedly wrote “Jai Shri Ram” on the blackboard, have been quietly reinstated following a “departmental inquiry”.

The school education department of the Jammu and Kashmir government has ordered the reinstatement of the accused principal, Mohammad Hafiz, due to lack of evidence and prosecution witnesses. It has also advised him to “remain vigilant in future as he holds the vital post of principal and head of the institution”.

The committee also recommended reinstatement of lecturer Mohammad Farooq with imposition of penalty and suspension of two increments.

The suspension period of the two officers is considered as a period of service, specifies the government decree of July 22, 2027. Mohammad Hafiz and Mohammad Farooq will not only be reinstated but will also benefit from 10 months of salary for their suspension period.

Minor student beaten up by Mohammad Hafiz and Mohammad Farooq for writing Jai Shri Ram on blackboard

On August 25, 2023, Mohammad Farooq and Mohammad Hafiz allegedly beat up a minor student studying at HSS Bani Public School for writing “Jai Shri Ram” on the blackboard.

Following the incident, a video of the minor victim being hospitalised went viral on social media, triggering widespread outrage. In the video, the minor student (Class X) was seen narrating the incident. Explaining the reason for his being in the hospital, he said that his teacher Farooq and the school principal had brutally beaten him for writing Jai Shri Ram on the board.

Speaking to OpIndia, Kathua police confirmed that the minor schoolboy was beaten up for writing ‘Jai Shri Ram’ on the blackboard.

They added that they have lodged an FIR in the case against two accused under sections 323 (dealing with punishment for voluntarily causing hurt), 342 (wrongful confinement), 504 (intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of peace) and 506 (criminal intimidation) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC). Besides, they have charged the accused under section 75 (which provides punishment if a person having control of the child assaults, abandons, ill-treats or wilfully neglects the child) of the Juvenile Justice Act.

The police assured that they would act swiftly and arrest the two accused in the case soon. “The FIR has mentioned Professor Farooq as the accused who beat up the victim for writing ‘Jai Shri Ram’ on the classroom blackboard. Principal Mohammed Hafiz has also been named in the FIR. They will be arrested soon,” the police official told OpIndia.

Subsequently, the Jammu and Kashmir government formed a three-member high-level inquiry committee. The committee was headed by the Sub-Divisional Magistrate (SDM) of Bani. The other two members of the committee are the Deputy Director of Education of Kathua region and the Principal of HSS Public School Kharote.