Haripriya Meher undergoes treatment at SCB Medical College and Hospital in Cuttack. Picture by Badrika Nath Das

Cuttack, Oct. 16: Fifteen-year-old Haripriya Meher still shudders at the thought of the trauma she underwent in school two months ago.

The Class X student of Sri Devi High School at Bisipada in Phulbani district was subjected to “corporal punishment” for failing to complete her homework and forgetting to bring her book to school. The school headmaster asked Haripriya to do 200 sit-ups — a punishment, which resulted in severe pain in her waist and legs, forcing her to be hospitalised, said her father Motilal Meher.

Meher said his daughter was unable to complete her homework because she was running high fever the previous evening.

“She could manage to do about 100 sit-ups after which she fell unconscious and later, had to hobble her way back home,” said Meher.

Despite excruciating pain, Haripriya went to school the following day to appear for her pre-tests. “The next day, I had not taken a book to school. The headmaster, Sanjay Sahu, asked me to do 200 more sit-ups. I asked him for forgiveness and said I was not even able to walk properly because of the pain. He was enraged and hit my hands with a duster,” said Haripriya, on the verge of tears. “Since then I have not been able to concentrate on studies. It was a painful experience,” she said.

Her mother Hemlata said Haripriya had initially been admitted to a local hospital at Phulbani and later to VSS Medical College and Hospital in Burla, where the doctors advised them to take her to SCB Medical College and Hospital in Cuttack. She has been undergoing treatment here since October 10. Today, the MRI test was conducted and the doctors said the exact reason for the pain could be ascertained once the reports came in.

Sitting beside bed No. 10 in the orthopaedics department at SCB, Hemlata comforted Haripriya with a hug. “This is not the way teachers should treat children in school. My daughter’s studies have been affected following the incident. She has her board exams next year, but I am not sure if she would recover from the pain and trauma by then,” said Hemlata, adding that stern action should be taken against the headmaster.

State coordinator of the Institute of Human Rights Education Pradip Nayak said the incident was a clear violation of the Right to Education Act. “Despite a ban on corporal punishment in schools, the child was tortured which is unfortunate,” he said.

On the other hand, headmaster Sanjay Sahu has termed the incident as conspiracy against him. “Around 10 to 15 students of the same class were asked to do 50 sit-ups for not bringing their books. Moreover, the girl (Haripriya) had attended classes after that and also appeared for the pre-tests that got over in October,” said Sahu.