Palghar (PTI): A Class 6 student of a private school in Maharashtra's Palghar district died nearly a week after she was allegedly made to perform 100 sit-ups as punishment for coming late, prompting the authorities to launch a probe.

Anshika Gaud, a student of the school located at Sativali in the Vasai area, passed away in a Mumbai hospital on Friday night.

According to members of the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS), Anshika and four other students were made to perform 100 sit-ups each for reaching school late on November 8.

The deceased girl's mother alleged that her daughter died as a result of an "inhuman punishment" given by her teacher, who made her perform sit-ups with her school bag on her back.

Sachin More, an MNS leader from Vasai, claimed she was punished despite having pre-existing health problems.

A teacher from the school said, "It is not known how many sit-ups this child had done. One really does not know if she died due to it or otherwise."

Block Education Officer Pandurang Galange said an inquiry is being conducted into Anshika's death.

"The probe will reveal the exact cause of her death,” he said. No police complaint has been filed as yet, said officials.

Talking to media persons, the deceased girl's mother said her child's health condition deteriorated rapidly after she was subjected to corporal punishment.

"After the punishment, she experienced severe pain in her neck and back, and could not get up," she said.

The woman said that when she learnt about the incident and her daughter's condition, she went to the school and confronted the teacher.

"I was told that the students were punished for coming late to school. The teacher justified the punishment, saying the parents otherwise accuse them of not teaching the students despite paying fees," she said.

"I told the teacher that punishing the students does not mean forcing them to perform sit-ups with bags on their back. The teacher gave my daughter inhuman punishment, which led to her death," she said.

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Bengaluru (PTI): Two men were arrested for allegedly sexually assaulting two minor girls, recording the acts on mobile phones and uploading the videos online as child sexual abuse material, police said on Thursday. 

The accused have been identified as Kiran Kumar (29), hailing from Chitradurga district, and Aditya M K (20), hailing from Shivamogga district, they said. 

A probe was initiated after information was received from the NCRP portal regarding a suspected instance of creation of Child Sexual Abuse Material (CSAM) for online dissemination, police said. 

Accordingly, a case was registered at Kaggalipura Police Station under relevant sections of the IT Act on May 10, they added.

Investigation revealed that two minor girl victims were exploited and videos were created and uploaded to the internet. The child victims have subsequently recorded their statements as per procedure and further necessary legal steps have been taken, Pronab Mohanty Director General of Police, Cyber Command, said in a statement.

Based on the statements of the victims, the accused persons, who allegedly assaulted the minors, recorded the acts on mobile phones and uploaded the videos online, were arrested, he said.

Following the probe, sections 65(2) (rape) and 70 (gangrape) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, along with relevant sections of the POCSO Act, have been added to the FIR, police said.

Officials collected relevant information and on May 12, arrested the accused persons and seized three mobile phones belonging to them, in which the videos had allegedly been recorded, he said.

The accused were later produced before the court and taken into police custody for further investigation, he added.

According to him, in CSAM cases, police usually apprehend offenders who have downloaded such content or have kept them in their possession after obtaining them from elsewhere, usually the internet. 

"The present case is one of the very few instances where content creators and uploaders have been apprehended," Mohanty added.