Jayapur: A Class 5 student died at the District Headquarters Hospital in Jayapur, with his father alleging that the boy was severely beaten by the headmaster of a PM SHRI Upgraded High School in Gadapadar, police said.
The deceased, identified as the son of Tin Jani, was staying in the school hostel after being promoted from Class 4 to Class 5.
According to the complaint lodged by the boy’s father at Jayapur Sadar Police Station, headmaster Dilip Panda allegedly assaulted the student on Friday and Saturday and confined him to the hostel. The complaint further alleged that the headmaster smeared the boy’s face with soot and kicked him in the chest with his boots.
The boy’s father visited the hostel on Sunday after learning about the alleged incident. The student reportedly told him about the assault, following which he was taken to the District Headquarters Hospital, where doctors declared him dead on the night of September 30.
The father has also alleged that the headmaster frequently assaulted students without valid reasons and threatened them against reporting the incidents to their parents.
Following the death, relatives and villagers staged a sit-in and gheraoed the Jayapur Sadar Police Station, demanding the immediate arrest of the headmaster.
Police have registered a murder case and launched an investigation. The body was subjected to post-mortem examination before being handed over to the family.
Sadar police station IIC Sachindra Pradhan said further action would be taken after receipt of the post-mortem report.
Meanwhile, Panda denied the allegations, saying the boy’s father had arrived at around 12.40 pm on Sunday to take him home. He said he had advised the student to have his meal before leaving and that the boy subsequently ate chicken and rice before leaving on foot with his father.
Panda claimed that the student had not been physically assaulted and described him as a good student. He also said 16 CCTV cameras had been installed across the school and hostel premises and that the footage and other available information would help establish the facts during the police investigation.
