Almost a fortnight after a teacher of Our Lady Queen of the Missions allegedly yanked off a tuft of hair from five-year-old Varnika Gupta?s scalp, the school is set to form a seven-member committee to probe the incident. Varnika was a nursery student in the school?s Salt Lake branch.

?The committee is being constituted. The formal approval of the school managing committee will be taken before the panel is formed,? Smita Thomas, principal of the school, told Metro on Monday. ?We cannot say at this stage who would be the members of the committee,? she added.

According to sources in the school, the committee will consist of a lawyer, an educationist, a doctor and representatives of teachers and guardians.

On March 16, Varnika?s father Hitesh Gupta lodged a complaint with Bidhannagar (South) police station against Ruma Pal, the teacher.

He alleged that Pal had pulled out a tuft of hair from his daughter?s head because on March 14, she had forgotten to bring a plastic bag to school to carry back her artwork.

The school had supported Pal, claiming investigations had revealed that the teacher had not hurt Varnika.

The teacher reportedly told the school authorities that she had pulled Varnika?s ear for misbehaving in class.

Medical reports prepared by Bidhannagar Sub Divisional Hospital and NRS Medical College and Hospital?s dermatology department suggested that there was no mark of external injury on Varnika?s head. The hair-loss could have been caused by skin disease, the reports said.

Family physician of the Guptas, P.P. Gupta, however, claimed that there were bloodstains on Varnika?s head when she was brought to him for treatment. He added that he had been treating the child since infancy and had never detected any skin disease.

Varnika?s admission to the school for the next academic session is also embroiled in a controversy.

The school authorities on Monday informed her parents that the last day for collecting the fee book, school diary and other items was already over.

?The last date for collecting the items is over,? said principal Thomas. ?If Varnika?s parents approach us, we will consider her case.?

The Guptas said they wanted their daughter to continue in the school. ?We have nothing against the authorities, but we need an assurance from them that our child will be safe,? Hitesh said.

He added that he would soon visit the school and speak to the authorities about Varnika?s admission in the next class.

According to her parents, Varnika has still not overcome the shock of the incident. ?We are not mentioning the incident in front of her,? said Hitesh.