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Should ‘shake conscience of state’: SC criticises UP govt over shoddy FIR in Muzaffarnagar school incident

The Supreme Court on Monday slammed the Yogi Adityanath-led UP government for the sloppy probe in Muzaffarnagar school incident where…

Should ‘shake conscience of state’: SC criticises UP govt over shoddy FIR in Muzaffarnagar school incident

Representational Image [Photo : iStock]

The Supreme Court on Monday slammed the Yogi Adityanath-led UP government for the sloppy probe in Muzaffarnagar school incident where a student belonging to Muslim community was slapped by his fellow classmates on instructions of a teacher. The apex court said that if true, the incident should “shake the conscience of the state”.

A bench comprising Justices Abhay S Oka and Pankaj Mithal expressed “serious objections” on the FIR filed by UP police which didn’t include the allegations made by victim’s father that his son was beaten because to his religion.

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“We take serious objections to the way the FIR was filed. The father had made a statement saying allegations were made and he was beaten due to religion. But this is not mentioned in the FIR,” Justice Oka was quoted as saying by Bar and Bench.

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Justice Oka further said that this was about quality education which also includes sensitive education.

The top court also directed the UP government that the investigation into the case should be supervised by an IPS officer, who will send his report to the court.

Earlier last month, a private school teacher in Uttar Pradesh’s Muzaffarnagar asked students to slap their Muslim classmate while she allegedly hurled religious slurs. A purported video of the incident showed students taking turn to slap their Muslim peer.

When the Muslim student’s face turned red, the teacher asked students to hit him on the back. The incident triggered massive outrage with Opposition Congress accusing the BJP of “sowing the poison of discrimination in the minds of innocent children.”

Father of the victim student alleged he was beaten up due to his Muslim religion and demanded action against the teacher.

However, the woman teacher identified as Tripta Tyagi said that the incident was not communal in nature and she was just being strict with the seven-year-old student after his parents complained about him.

“There was pressure from the parents of the child to be strict with him. I am handicapped and can’t get up. He was not doing his homework for the last two months. So, I made two or three students beat him up so that he would start doing his work,” Tyagi had said.

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