Jharkhand: Panel Probing Dalit Minor's Self-Immolation Submits Report, Family Given Rs 25,000
New Delhi: Days after a Dalit student set herself on fire in Jharkhand's East Singhbhum district after allegedly having been forced to remove her clothes during an exam by a teacher who wished to search her for hidden pieces of paper, a panel constituted to investigate the incident has submitted its report.
District authorities are also understood to have handed over Rs 25,000 as compensation under provisions of the Schedule Caste and Schedule Tribe (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, to the minor girl's family members.
Deputy Commissioner of the district, Vijaya Jadav, had on Sunday, October 16, visited the burn unit of Tata Main Hospital, where the 15-year-old is admitted. Sub-Divisional Officer of Dhalbhum, Sandeep Kumar Meena, and Executive Magistrate Sumit Prakash were also present.
The Class-9 student, in a statement to police, said that on October 14, a woman invigilator made her remove clothes in a room adjacent to a classroom during an exam to check if she was hiding pieces of paper on herself, despite strong resistance on her part.
Her mother said that the teenager could not bear the humiliation and set herself ablaze shortly after returning from school.
The Hindi daily Hindustan has reported that no pieces of paper were found on the girl. The family also demonstrated in front of authorities in the immediate aftermath of her having sustained the burns, the report said.
It added that she has suffered 80% burns.
Police said the accused teacher was arrested under various sections of the Indian Penal Code, the POCSO Act and the Juvenile Justice Act.
The administration has initiated a process so that the family gets the benefits of other government schemes as well.
(With PTI inputs)
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