NHRC takes suo motu cognisance of corporal punishment of students in Bihar school

New Delhi, Aug 28 The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has taken suo motu cognisance of a media report that about 18 students at a government school in Bihar's Katihar district were allegedly subjected to corporal punishment by their teacher after being locked inside a room.

According to the press report, carried on August 22, the ordeal ended only when some parents, who had come to the premises of the school in the Haflaganj area for other work, raised an alarm.

The incident triggered outrage in the locality, with several villagers gathering at the school to protest.

Sensing trouble, all the male teachers reportedly fled the scene before the police reached the spot.

Taking note of the report, the apex human rights body observed that the contents, if true, raise serious concerns of human rights violations of the students.

The NHRC has issued notices to the Bihar Chief Secretary and the Superintendent of Police, Katihar, seeking a detailed report on the incident within two weeks.

Established under the Protection of Human Rights Act, 1993, the NHRC, an autonomous statutory body, is an embodiment of India's concern for the promotion and protection of human rights. Its primary role is to protect and promote human rights, defined as the rights relating to life, liberty, equality, and dignity of individuals guaranteed by the Constitution or embodied in international covenants and enforceable by courts in India. The apex human rights body has the power to take suo motu (on its own motion) action based on media reports, public knowledge or other sources, without receiving a formal complaint of human rights violations.

Earlier in the day, the NHRC took suo motu cognisance of another media report that an Imam allegedly sexually abused a 7-year-old boy at a mosque in the Jhabreda area of Uttarakhand’s Roorkee last week. The boy had gone to the mosque for religious studies when the perpetrator allegedly took him to his room by force and committed the heinous act.

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