UP slapgate video: FIR registered, teacher blames politician for flare up

NEW DELHI: Superintendent of Police Satyanarayan Prajapati in Muzaffarnagar, Uttar Pradesh on Saturday said that a First Information Report (FIR) had been filed against a teacher who appeared in a viral video instructing students to slap a student from a minority community.

According to police, an FIR was filed based on Sections 323 and 504 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) at Mansurpur police station. The SP said that they have seen the video in which the teacher instructed her students to physically harm a classmate as a consequence of not memorizing multiplication tables. “The video also contained inappropriate remarks. Pertinent authorities have been notified about the incident, and appropriate administrative measures will be initiated against the teacher,” said the SP.

However, in defense of her actions, the accused teacher, Tripta Tyagi, downplayed the incident, labelling it a “minor issue”, despite the registration of a case against her. She justified her behaviour by asserting that she had instructed some students to slap the boy due to his failure to complete homework. She claimed that pressure from the child’s parents motivated her to take strict measures, saying that she is handicapped and cannot employ this approach.

Tyagi denied any communal motives in the matter and contended that the video had been manipulated to give it a communal context. She said that the video was recorded by the child’s cousin, who was present in the class and alleged that offensive language she used against a specific community was selectively included. Tyagi expressed that the situation had been magnified beyond its actual significance once the video clip became widely shared. While acknowledging her error, she argued that the incident had been unnecessarily blown out of proportion. She directed her remarks at politicians, emphasizing that the incident was relatively inconsequential and criticizing leaders like Rahul Gandhi for publicizing it.

Tyagi questioned the impact of such incidents going viral on teachers’ ability to effectively educate, suggesting that everyday occurrences were being needlessly sensationalized.

The video of the incident which took place in Khabbarpur village has gone viral on social media.In the purported video, the female school teacher could be heard saying in Hindi, “I have declared that all Muslim children should go...", as she asked rest of the class to remain silent and hit the student who belonged to the minority community. The father of the victim later told mediapersons that they have reached a compromise in the matter and they don't want to pursue any case.

“We have decided not to pursue the case. The school authorities have returned our fees. We have decided that our child will not go the same school any more,” the father of the victim told the media. IANS

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