15 students beaten up by seniors in Bordumsa JNV  hostel, five suspended

APSHRC seeks response

Staff Reporter

ITANAGAR, 26 Jun:  Altogether 15 students of class 8 were assaulted allegedly by their seniors in Bordumsa’s Jawahar Novodaya Vidyalaya (JNV) hostel.

The school authorities suspended five senior students allegedly involved in the incident that took place on Tuesday, principal Rajeev Ranjan said.

A police complaint has also been lodged in connection with the incident.

The junior boys were beaten up with sticks allegedly by several class 11 students in the hostel.

The injured students were taken to a hospital which discharged them after administering first aid.

Principal Rajeev Ranjan convened a disciplinary action committee meeting.

In the meeting, the members of the committee found five senior students of being guilty of inflicting physical harm and psychological trauma on class 8 students.

Changlang superintendent of police Kirli Padu said the process of identifying the accused students is on and the police will talk with the victims.

He assured the injured students and their parents that action would be taken against the guilty.

“We have already suspended the students, who were involved in the incident. It is an isolated case. We will ascertain the reason behind it,” the principal said.

Ranjan said the school authorities are in touch with the parents of the assaulted students.

“The injuries are not that serious. Medical tests have already been done by the parents of the students,” he said adding that a parent-teacher meeting was convened and the matter will be discussed with the guardians of the class 11 students.

The school has classes from 6 to 12 and has 530 student boarders including girls.

This is not the first time that bullying has been reported from JNV. In 2018, JNV, Doimukh reported physical assault of junior students by seniors.

Meanwhile, the Arunachal Pradesh State Human Rights Commission has taken suo- moto cognizance of the matter. It issued notice to the superintendent of police, Changlang district to submit details of steps taken by the law enforcement authorities within 15 days; and also to the state chief secretary to file details of steps taken up by the state to stop ragging of students in all government as well as private institutions in the state. (With inputs from PTI)