Odisha girl thrashed by neighbour for stealing' flower plant sapling found hanging
Bhubaneswar (PTI): A 13-year-old girl was found hanging hours after she was allegedly beaten up by a neighbour for stealing a marigold sapling in a village in Odisha's Mayurbhanj district, a police officer said on Friday.
The parents of the tribal girl had gone from Bhaluhuruda village under the Udala police station limits to Bhubaneswar for some work after requesting the neighbour to look after her in their absence.
On being informed, the police reached the village, recovered the body and arrested the neighbour, a woman.
The girl was supposed to sleep at the neighbour's house at night during the period when her parents would be in Bhubaneswar, an officer of Udala police station, Laxmikanta Nayak, said.
It was claimed that on Tuesday evening, the girl uprooted some marigold plants from the house of the neighbour Laxmi Murmu. When Murmu came to know about it the next day, she thrashed the girl, the police officer said.
Later, the girl was found hanging by a saree in the verandah of her house.
Earlier on Wednesday, her parents received a call from Murmu that their daughter uprooted some marigold plants. They got another call later from Laxmi stating that the teenager had stolen some marigold saplings.
The parents returned home on Thursday morning and accused the neighbour of beating their daughter to death.
When asked whether it was a case of murder or suicide, the police officer said, "Local people have seen Laxmi thrashing the girl. However, the exact cause of the death can be ascertained after getting the post-mortem examination report. We are investigating all angles."
The body has been handed over to the parents after the autopsy on Friday.
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AIITA welcomes Karnataka’s ban on obscene songs in school events
Bhatkal: The Karnataka unit of the All India Ideal Teachers Association (AIITA) has welcomed the Karnataka government’s decision to strictly ban school children from dancing to obscene songs during educational and cultural programmes in government, aided, and private schools across the state.
AIITA Karnataka State President M. R. Manvi congratulated the government for taking what he termed an important step to preserve the sanctity of education.
“Such decisions to safeguard the dignity of school children and uphold the values of education are the need of the hour. This rule should not be limited to government schools alone but must be strictly implemented in all private educational institutions as well,” he said.
He further urged the government to address other concerns within school programmes.
“The government should not only prohibit obscene dances in the name of school anniversaries, but also ensure that plays and dialogues that incite religious hatred are avoided. Schools should be centres of harmony, not platforms for spreading hatred,” he added.
According to a recent circular issued by the Department of School Education and Literacy, obscene dances are adversely affecting the mental health and moral values of students.
In this regard, schools have been advised to use songs that promote nationalism, positive thinking, the greatness of Kannada culture, and value-based traditions instead of inappropriate content during programmes.
The circular also emphasises that students should be dressed in decent attire.
AIITA also backed the department’s warning that disciplinary action would be taken against head teachers if such guidelines are violated. The association has further demanded that district Deputy Directors of Public Instruction strictly monitor the implementation of these rules.
