http://epaper.timesofindia.com/Repository/ml.asp?Ref=Q0FQLzIwMDkvMD...I was in the next class and saw it all: Sister

Dwaipayan Ghosh | TNN

New Delhi: Her stoic expression revealed nothing of the turmoil that had torn her family apart. On Friday, seven-year-old Saima sat calmly and narrated the sequence of events that led to her sister Shanno’s death.

‘‘Shanno failed last year and stayed back in Class II while I was promoted to Class III. She promised to do better this time. On Wednesday, the teacher asked all the girls of Class II to learn the English alphabets by heart. However, when six of them failed to answer, including my sister, the teacher asked them to stand out in the sun as punishment. After an hour, Shanno sought permission to be allowed to have a drink. The teacher called the other

girls back but decided to punish my sister further,’’ alleged Saima.

According to the child, the teacher then put a couple of bricks on Shanno’s back and asked her to balance it. When the girl complained of feeling sick, the teacher allegedly beat her up with a tree branch. ‘‘I was studying in the next room and could see everything,’’ claimed Saima.

The seven-year-old alleged that the teacher then hit Shanno on the legs as a result of which she fell and began bleeding from her nose and mouth. “I rushed out of my class and called my mother,” the child said.

Rehana Khatun, Shanno’s mother, said she ran to the school, barely 300 metres from her house. ‘‘When I reached, I found a student bringing out my girl who was bleeding from her mouth and nose. Another student’s mother asked me to take her to the hospital immediately and inform the police. But I got nervous and took her back inside the school. I was washing her face, when Dhanpati, the principal, came and inquired about the incident. The principal even called the teacher and asked her to clarify matters. But the teacher merely said sorry and said I should go home,’’ claimed Khatun. By the time Shanno was brought back home, her condition deteriorated. She complained of severe pain. Her last words, according to her mother, were: “I think I will die.”

Local residents, meanwhile, protested against the death and tried to stop Lok Sabha nominee Krishna Tirath and Bawana MLA Surender Kumar from visiting the deceased’s residence.