Teacher gets 3-yr imprisonment for slapping student, causing hearing loss
Gandhinagar (PTI): A court here has sentenced a school teacher to more than three years in prison for slapping a Class 9 student for unfinished homework, an act that ruptured her left eardrum and caused hearing impairment.
Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate Himanshu Choudhary, in the judgment on January 30, held the offence involved abuse of authority by a teacher, which caused a serious injury to the 14-year-old girl, and resulted in "longstanding hearing impairment" as well as resultant long-term medical consequences.
Even after four-and-a-half years of the incident, the victim was still undergoing medication for the injury suffered, the court noted.
It convicted the teacher, Parulben Patel, under section 325 of the Indian Penal Code and section 75 of the Juvenile Justice Act, for assaulting the child and voluntarily causing grievous hurt, and sentenced her to three years and three months in prison.
The court also imposed a fine of Rs 50,000 on her and directed that the amount be paid as compensation to the victim.
As per the prosecution, the incident occurred on January 1, 2020, at Baa Shri Vasantkuvarba School, a private institution, in Gandhinagar.
The accused, enraged over the student not doing her homework, slapped her thrice on her left ear. As a result, the student suffered a perforation of the left eardrum, causing her grievous hurt.
Based on a complaint by the girl's family, the Sector-21 police registered an FIR against the teacher two days after the incident.
In her defence, the teacher had submitted before the court that the student was not doing her homework and acting on her whims. When her parents were told about the same, they filed a false case against her, she claimed.
The court took into account the testimony of the medical witnesses and the history narrated before the treating doctor, corroborating the charges levelled against the accused.
The teacher's lawyer sought leniency in the sentence, given the fact that she was suffering from cancer.
The court observed that the offence involved abuse of authority by a teacher, serious physical injury to a minor child, and long-term medical consequences.
"Such factors outweigh mitigating circumstances. Grant of probation would defeat the object of deterrence and child protection. Moreover, no documentary evidence in support of the cancer ailment has been brought on record," it stated.
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Karnataka Lokayukta to register case, probe Bowring wall collapse
Bengaluru (PTI): Karnataka Lokayukta Justice B S Patil on Thursday took serious note of the compound wall collapse at Bowring and Lady Curzon Hospital in the city that killed seven people, and announced registration of a case on its own while warning of action against officials found responsible.
The Lokayukta, who visited the site and conducted an inspection, expressed strong displeasure over the incident and questioned the inaction of authorities, even as police and emergency teams had earlier rushed to the spot to rescue victims trapped under the debris following heavy rain, strong winds and a hailstorm on Wednesday evening.
“I will now register a suo motu case. This is not just about this one incident — such incidents must not occur anywhere in the state or the city in the future,” Justice Patil told reporters.
Seven people, including a six-year-old girl, were killed and seven others injured when the compound wall collapsed as rain-battered victims had taken shelter near it, according to police. The victims included people from Kerala who were in the city on a study tour.
Calling for systemic accountability, the Lokayukta said, “Dilapidated buildings and weakened compound walls, especially in areas with public access, must first be identified. They must either be repaired, demolished, or rebuilt.”
He added that responsibility would be fixed on officials of the BBMP and the concerned departments.
Justice Patil said that hearings would be conducted and preventive action initiated, while also probing those responsible for it, how the incident could have been prevented, and why it was not prevented.
A Scene of Crime Officers (SOCO) team and a Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL) team also inspected the site, while police cordoned off Kovil Street to facilitate the probe.
Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar said the government had initiated measures following the rain-related incidents and stressed preparedness.
“Since last night we have initiated measures regarding the rains. When it rains heavily, we must be prepared, and we are working towards that,” he told reporters here.
On the wall collapse, Shivakumar said, “I will not directly blame any officials. It was an old wall, and trees had grown alongside it. Due to that pressure, it collapsed.”
The Deputy CM said instructions had been issued to identify such vulnerable structures and clear areas around them, including relocating street vendors.
Karnataka Medical Education Minister Sharan Prakash Patil said a technical assessment had been ordered.
“This is a very serious matter. Innocent people have been affected. We are issuing directions to the engineers to find out why this compound wall collapsed and to assess its structural strength,” he told reporters after inspecting the spot.
The Minister noted that the wall was ‘very old’ and required thorough examination to prevent recurrence.
Speaking to reporters, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge asked the Karnataka government to take precautions to ensure that incidents like the collapse of the Bengaluru government hospital compound wall, which caused loss of life, should not repeat.
Meanwhile, addressing a press conference, Shivajinagar MLA Rizwan Arshad said the collapse raised questions about construction and maintenance practices.
“If a wall collapses within 25 years of its construction, it needs to be examined -- whether there was any technical issue, or if anything was altered inside, weakening it. All this can only come out through a technical investigation,” he said.
The Congress MLA also called for wider structural audits across the city, stating that all such structures, whether private or government, must be audited.
He urged citizens to support victims, saying it was a collective responsibility in times of crisis.
