A teacher at a government-run school in southern Mizoram’s Lunglei district was suspended for misbehaviour after being arrested on Saturday for stripping a 6-year-old girl student of her uniform and sending her home naked, school education department director H. Lalthlangliana said on Tuesday.
According to the suspension order issued on Monday, a case against P C Lalbiakengi has been registered under Section 75 of the Juvenile Justice Act, 2015, and he has been detained.
“Therefore, P C Lalbiaksangi is deemed to have been suspended in terms of sub rule-2 of Rule 10 of CCS (CCA) Rules 1965 and shall remain under suspension with immediate effect until further order,” the judgement stated.
According to the agreement between her and the state project director of Samagra Shiksha, she will not be paid during the suspension period. Lalthlangliana stated that the teacher who was taking over as headmistress of the school was punished for doing something that a teacher should not do.
He claimed she was a contractual employee for Samagra Shiksha and had been there for years. He further stated that she is suspended for her actions till further notice.
Lalbiakengi was detained on Saturday and remanded to 14 days in judicial detention after appearing before a magistrate on Sunday in response to a FIR filed by the Lunglei District Child Protection Unit.
She is being held in the Lunglei District Jail. Section 75 of the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act of 2015 was utilised to charge the accused.
When the child’s mother sought to take her home with her brother, Lalbiakengi undressed her and sent her home naked from Thangpui Primary School in Lunglei district. The incident occurred on August 25th, with all students present.
Nancy Lalnunsangi, the child’s mother, stated that her daughter was physically abused by a boy at school on August 22.
“My daughter was beaten black and blue by her classmate (boy) after which she vomited blood and felt abdominal pain. However, as she was so eager to go back to school wearing the school uniform for the first time this year; she went back the next day only to be beaten by the same boy again,” she added.
She said she went to school and scolded the boy, for which she was punished by the teacher. “The teacher called me over the phone and rebuked me citing she was not happy with my conduct and that I breached the school rules,” Nancy stated. The teacher even complained on a teachers’ WhatsApp group.
“Because of this, I was so angry and frustrated that I went to the school on August 25 to take my daughter along with her brother. At this juncture, the teacher intervened and told me if I were to take home my child, I should leave her uniform behind as another student needed it. She then stripped my daughter in front of me and her classmates and let her go with only her underwear. She gave the school uniform to another student,” the mother stated.