Tanmoy Dey (Sanat Kr Sinha)

A BA student of Rabindra Bharati University claims to have lost hearing in his left ear after a teacher allegedly slapped him repeatedly for sporting a green tilak on his forehead to celebrate Trinamul’s victory.

Tanmoy Dey’s father lodged a complaint against Jayanta Mukherjee with Sinthee police station on Wednesday, two days after the dance teacher allegedly assaulted the 24-year-old final-year vocal music student on the BT Road campus.

Vice-chancellor Karuna Sindhu Das has ordered an inquiry into the incident.

On Monday, Tanmoy and his friends had gone to the office of Somnath Sinha, the dean of the faculty of fine arts, to request him to allow them to sit for a practical exam despite not having the required attendance. “Somnath Sir was very kind to us, but Jayanta Sir, who is not even from our department, started scolding us once we came out of the dean’s room,” said Tanmoy.

“Some of us had smeared each other with green abir. Jayanta Sir was very angry with me as I had a prominent green tilak on my forehead. He held me by the collar and kept slapping me till I started feeling dizzy. He also kept threatening to throw me down the stairs,” added Tanmoy.

He felt “a push from behind” and was tumbling down the stairs, when his friends caught him. They also escorted him to his Dum Dum Cantonment home.

On Wednesday, Tanmoy underwent an X-ray and a CT scan at SSKM Hospital. “I can’t hear in my left ear and it still hurts,” he said.

Sources in the hospital said an “internal injury” had been detected near Tanmoy’s left ear. He has been advised “complete rest”.

Das said: “I haven’t received any complaint but I have asked security officers to conduct a probe and submit a report on Thursday.”

Biswarup Ghosh, deputy commissioner of police (north division), said: “We have started an investigation.”