Sonali in Malda Medical College. Picture by Surajit Roy

Malda, April 14: The father of a Class IX student has lodged a police complaint against his daughter’s physics teacher when a medical report showed the girl had got a blood clot in her head after allegedly being hit with a wooden duster in class on Friday.

Sonali Pandey of Rishipur High School in Habibpur was admitted to the Malda Medical College and Hospital the same day but doctors there have advised that she be taken to SSKM hospital in Calcutta.

Sonali’s mother Shefali said that on Friday afternoon, her son Tarun, who also studies in Class IX in the same school, rushed home around 2pm and said Sonali had fainted in the class.

“My son was in tears and said the physics teacher Subhendu Ghosh had thrown a duster that hit the back of Sonali’s head and she fell unconscious after some time. He told me Sonali was not paying attention and the teacher hit her without any warning,” Shefali said.

Tarun told his mother Shefali was talking in class.

The village is 30km from Malda town.

Shefali went to the school immediately and found Sonali lying on the floor in an empty classroom. Although the school was on, there were no students in the class.

She said she asked some teachers what had happened. “Keu kono kotha boleni (no teacher would tell me anything),” Shefali said.

“I went to headmaster Abhijit Nandi and told him about my daughter’s condition. He came with me to the classroom and quickly arranged for an ambulance. We took her to a health centre at Bulbulchandi, a few kilometres away. The doctors there told us to take her to the medical college (Malda Medical College and Hospital). We admitted her to the medical college around 5pm on Friday,” Shefali, whose husband works as a nightguard, said.

She said a CT scan was done at the medical college and doctors found that the 14-year-old girl had a clot at the base of her skull.

“The doctors have told us to take her to SSKM Hospital in Calcutta. We are from a very poor family. My husband works as a night guard at the local market in Rishipur and earns a bit by doing pujas in households. I do not know what is in store for my daughter,” Shefali said.

“She was kept lying at the floor in the medical college. She is speaking incoherently and falling unconscious often. She is constantly saying that she wants to be with her mother. I am trying to convince her that I am right next to her but she is constantly looking for me,” the mother said.

Malda Medical College and Hospital superintendent Himadri Anri said the CT scan had shown there was a blood clot near the base of Sonali’s skull. “There is a blood clot at the spot where she was injured and we are not sure whether internal the bleeding is still on. She needs a surgery to drain out the blood to avoid further complications. But we do not have a neurosurgeon here and that is why we have referred the girl to SSKM Hospital,” Anri said.

How the duster hit the back of Sonali’s skull is not clear.

Last night, Sonali’s father Nabakumar Pandey filed a police complaint at Englishbazar against physics teacher Subhendu Ghosh.

The teacher said he had hit the girl with his hand. “I did not throw a duster at her. I hit her with my hand and I have no regrets.” Headmaster Nandi said the school would bear the girl’s treatment costs.

“We have already hired an ambulance to take her to Calcutta this evening. On Friday, we helped the family to get the girl admitted to the medical college. About the incident, all I can say is that we are holding an inquiry to find out what exactly happened and then we will decide on what action is to be taken,” he said.

Malda police superintendent Kalyan Mukherjee said the complaint lodged with Englishbazar police has been forwarded to Habibpur police station.

“I have heard about the complaint and the police are investigating the case.”