Minor girl's palm burnt for not picking up comb

An orphaned minor working as a domestic help in a teacher's house allegedly had her left palm burnt by the woman and her daughter at a village in the district for not obeying an order to pick up a comb from the floor of their home.
The matter came to light today when her neighbours in Papanasam village questioned the 12-year-old girl about the burn marks on her palm.
Gopika told them that the mother and her daughter, also a teacher in the same school, had burnt her palm for not obeying the order to pick up a comb from the floor.

The neighbours informed a woman child welfare officer who rescued the child and got her admitted at the Thanjavur government hospital for treatment today.
Later, she was shifted to a children's home in the district.
Police registered a case today against both the teachers. The daughter had brought Gopika from Kulithalai village to Papanasam after her parents died and got her admitted to the local panchayat middle school.