18-Year-Old Allegedly Made To Do 400 Sit-Ups At A Dehradun-Based Coaching Institute

An 18-year-old was allegedly made to do 400 sit ups on July 4 at a Dehradun based coaching institute for “talking in the class”, according to The Indian Express. The Indian Express further mentions that the FIR has been registered against the Mathematics teacher of the institute, Jai Singh. As per the report, the student is a Meghalaya native and was preparing for the defence entrance examinations at the centre. The FIR by student’s parents had claimed the boy was unable to walk due to severe pain and swelling in his legs.

Is giving physical punishment to students becoming a norm?

Off late, the incidents where the teachers in coaching centres subject students to physical harassment, are becoming common. In 2022, a video has gone viral on social media, in which a teacher at a coaching centre in Bihar was spotted mercilessly beating a five-year-old student. The student had to be later admitted to the hospital for medical attention.

What was the location of the video?

According to The Hindu, the video was said to be from the Dhanarua block of Patna district.  In the video, a young teacher from a private coaching centre was spotted beating a five-year -old student with cane. The teacher didn’t stop at this. He slapped, punched and even pulled the student’s hair. The student was seen crying and requesting the teacher not to beat him. Rest of the students were terrified and couldn’t gather the courage to stop the teacher from beating the student. The boy later became unconscious and fell to the ground.

Laws against physical punishment 

Though normalized by some institutions to ‘discipline’ the students, it is prohibited by law to physically punish the students. The Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education (RTE) Act, 2009, prohibits physical punishment and mental harassment of children in schools.