Howrah, Aug. 2: Three girls of a Howrah school were told by a teacher to hold on to burning newspapers until the flames singed their hands as punishment for colliding with a classmate.

Halima Khatun, Bilkis Khatun and Anusree Sardar, all Class V students of Sarenga High School in Sankrail, were walking together yesterday when they accidentally bumped into Suhel Sheikh, who was running in from the opposite direction.

Suhel complained to work education teacher Suresh Maiti and the girls were sentenced to the burning test.

Maiti threatened to whip the three if they dared to drop the burning papers.

While Bilkis and Anusree risked the whipping and let go of them, Halima held on to them and burned her hand severely.

Monohara Begum took her daughter Halima to the Sarenga village panchayat and showed her burnt hand around. The village body informed the Sankrail police station, about 25 km from Calcutta, immediately.

The mother filed a written complaint against Maiti yesterday evening.

The teacher-in-charge of the high school, Shibaram Mukherjee, took his colleague to the police station this morning. Maiti was arrested and charged with assault and keeping the girls in confinement.

Mukherjee said: “He has done it on the spur of the moment. He had no wish to physically torture the students.” But he added that the school did not condone Maiti’s act.

The fate of Maiti’s career, of which barely two months are left, will be decided at a school committee meeting on Friday.

Mukherjee said the school will bear the cost of Halima’s treatment.