Police in Shimla have filed a criminal case against three staff members of a government primary school — including the headmaster — for allegedly subjecting an eight-year-old Dalit student to repeated physical abuse and harassment over the last year. The case emerged after the child’s father reported that his son, a Class 1 student at the Government Primary School in Khaddapani in the Rohru subdivision, had been beaten frequently, which he says resulted in a bleeding ear and damage to the eardrum. He further alleged a particularly disturbing incident in which the teachers reportedly took the child to the school’s toilet and put a scorpion inside his pants.
The complaint names headmaster Devendra and teachers Babu Ram and Kritika Thakur. According to the father, the child was consistently threatened to remain silent, with the teachers allegedly warning that he could be jailed if he told his family about the abuse. The father also claimed that on October 30, the headmaster threatened to expel the boy, and warned the family of severe consequences if the matter was exposed, reportedly declaring, “We will burn you.” The parents were allegedly told not to approach authorities or discuss the issue online, or they would not “remain alive.”
Police have booked the accused under multiple provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, including charges relating to wrongful confinement, voluntarily causing hurt, and criminal intimidation, as well as relevant sections of the Juvenile Justice Act for cruelty toward a child. Additionally, charges have been filed under the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act for conduct insulting to a member of a Scheduled Caste and actions that violate dignity and safety. Authorities are seeking senior-level guidance on whether the inquiry should be carried out by a gazetted officer, given the seriousness of the allegations.
The complaint also includes accusations of caste-based discrimination at the school, with the father alleging that Nepali and Harijan students were required to sit separately from Rajput students during mealtime. He further alleged that Kritika Thakur’s husband, Nitish Thakur, had been illegally teaching in place of his wife for the past year.
The incident has surfaced amid heightened scrutiny of school-based abuse in the Rohru region. Just last week, a teacher in the Gawana area was suspended for striking a student with a thorny branch. In another recent case, a 12-year-old Dalit boy in Limda village allegedly died by suicide after reportedly being locked in a cowshed by upper-caste women for entering their home.
