Patha Bhavan students in their open-air class

Santiniketan, July 15: Police have seized the mattress and the bed used by the Class V girl in Patha Bhavan for investigation into the allegation that she was made to lick her own urine by the warden as a cure for bed-wetting.

“The bed and the mattress will be sent to the forensic science laboratory in Calcutta,” an officer said.

On the morning of July 7, the girl had wet her bed and was allegedly forced to lick her own urine by Karabi hostel warden Uma Poddar.

The girl’s father lodged a complaint with the police and the warden was arrested but later released on bail. She was charged with wrongful restraint, negligent act likely to spread infection of disease dangerous to life and malignant act likely to spread infection of disease.

As part of the investigation, the police also asked for the dress the girl was wearing on the night of July 6, but her parents said it had already been washed.

“We requested the family for the dress the student was wearing. But her parents informed us that the dress had been washed. So, we collected the bed and the mattress from the Patha Bhavan authorities in the presence of the girl’s parents,” said a senior police officer.

The officer in charge of the Santiniketan police outpost, P.S. Mondal, is the investigating officer in the case.

“The bed and the mattress of the girl will be sent to the forensic science laboratory. It will reveal whether the girl had wet her bed that night,” said Rishikesh Meena, the Birbhum superintendent of police.

The police have also talked to other students in the hostel in connection with the case. “Some students have told us that the girl was in the habit of wetting her bed. But no was willing to talk on what had exactly happened that day,” an officer of Bolpur police station said, adding a chargesheet in the case would be filed soon.

Industries minister Partha Chatterjee, who was in Birbhum today for a party meeting, said: “The school education minister (Bratya Basu) has already received a report from the district administration. He is dealing with the matter with all seriousness as it is something not wanted in any educational institution.”