Hatadihi: Ragging of students continues to plague educational institutions in the state as a Class IX student has allegedly been beaten up on a daily basis for years by his seniors at PM Shri Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalaya at Hadagarh under this block in Keonjhar district, sources said Thursday. According to the complaint lodged by the student’s father at the Soso police station, the survivor, a male student of Class IX in the school, was beaten by his seniors daily. Police registered a case (171/2024) and launched an investigation.
According to the complaint, Mandardhar Tout of Balia village under Soso police limits had alleged that some senior students of the institute have been beating his son since he joined the school in Class VI. Rout complained with the school authorities but the latter never addressed his pleas. Recently, the boy was beaten up by some senior students March 29, and sustained swelling on his face and cheek. The school authorities allegedly tried to suppress the incident again without taking any action against the accused students. The matter came to the fore when Mandardhar and his daughter Manoja went to the school after learning about the visit of the additional commissioner from Bhopal to the school, September 4. He saw some students assaulting his son inside the classroom when he entered the school premises to meet the additional commissioner. He immediately lodged a written complaint at the Soso police station. Police registered a case Wednesday against three students. Soso IIC Bijay Kumar Bihari visited the school and conducted an inquiry, Thursday.
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When contacted, principal P Manikanthan rejected the charges while additional commissioner P Munirameya from Bhopal office assured to conduct a probe and take suitable action in this regard. The boy’s sister Manoja said that the school principal misbehaved with her and asked her to leave the school premises when she visited the school with the police for an inquiry, Thursday. On the other hand, the parents’ association, principal P Manikanthan, additional commissioner P Munirameya, vice-principal Pramod Barik of the JNV and principal Ramraj Singh of JNV, Cuttack conducted a meeting and proposed to the boy’s father to shift his son to a separate Navodaya Vidyalaya. However, the boy’s father has refused to the proposal.