School teacher 'assaulted' by student's kin, hospitalised

The parents and relatives of a Class XII student allegedly assaulted a male teacher of a school here on Wednesday, a day after the latter "slapped" the student for shouting and misbehaving.

The teacher suffered injuries in the attack and was admitted to a hospital, a top office-bearer of Ashadeep School in Varachha area in Surat, where the incident took place, said.

While no case has been registered in this connection so far, the student's parents as well as the school management have reached Sarthana police station to file complaints against each other, police said.

Both the incidents were captured on the CCTV cameras installed in the school.

In one of the footages captured on Tuesday, a teacher can be seen thrashing the student in front of other students in the lobby.

The other footage shows a group of around 15 people assaulting the same teacher in the school compound. While some of them punched and kicked him, one person even used a stick to beat the teacher.

Mahesh Ramani, the chairman of the school, said that the teacher, Vipul Gajera, was admitted to a hospital after the attack.

"On Tuesday, some students started shouting in the toilet during the recess. When Gajera called this Class XII student and sought an explanation, the student confronted him. The teacher slapped the student for his behavior, but the latter grabbed Gajera's collar. Angered by his act, the teacher slapped the boy around 10 times," Ramani said.

He added that the teacher was suspended as soon as the school principal learned about the incident from the student's parents, who came to the school on Wednesday morning to make a representation.

"Although we suspended Gajera today morning, the student's parents and relatives caught hold of the teacher and mercilessly thrashed him in the school premises. They even used abusive language in the presence of girl students," Ramani said.

"Gajera was so badly beaten up that he had to be hospitalised after the attack," he added.

However, the boy's father, Paresh Lakhani, claimed that his son was not at fault.

"Although my son did not do anything, he was thrashed by the teacher. Even today, it was the school management which incited us. We had gone to the school just to make a representation," Lakhani said.