Tripta Tyagi denied that her action was communal in nature
The Uttar Pradesh teacher who was seen asking students to slap their Muslim classmate in a viral video today justified her action, saying it was a "minor issue" even as a case was registered against her.
Denying any communal angle in the incident, Tripta Tyagi said she asked some students to slap him because the boy had not been doing his homework. "There was pressure from the child's parents to be strict with him. I am handicapped, so I made some students slap him so that he would start doing his homework," she said.
She alleged the video was edited to give the whole episode a communal angle. "The child's cousin was sitting in the class. The video was recorded by him which was later distorted," she said, referring to offensive words she was heard using against a community in the video.
Ms Tyagi said it was a "minor issue" that had been blown out of proportion after the video clip went viral. "This wasn't my intention. I am accepting my mistake, but this was unnecessarily turned into a big issue", she said.
"I want to tell politicians that this was a minor issue. Leaders, including Rahul Gandhi have tweeted, but it was not such a big thing to tweet about. How will teachers teach if daily issues like these are made viral," she said.
Aravind Mallappa Bangari, District Magistrate, Muzaffarnagar said that a First Information Report or FIR has been registered against the teacher.
"The parents were initially not agreeing to give a complaint but this morning they gave a complaint to the local police station, and it has been registered. Legal action will be taken in the case," Mr Bangari said.
Mr Bangari said the child and his parents were counselled by the child welfare committee. "My son is 7-years-old. This incident happened on August 24. The teacher made the students beat my child again and again. My son was tortured for an hour or two. He is scared," the child's father said today.
The boy's father had yesterday said that he will not press charges against the school, but has decided not to send his child to this school anymore.
The video has triggered a massive outrage on social media. Politicians across the party lines also condemned the incident as a hate crime.
"Sowing the poison of discrimination in the minds of innocent children, turning a holy place like a school into a market place of hatred - there is nothing worse a teacher can do for the country," Rahul Gandhi said on microblogging site X.
Samajwadi Party Chief Akhilesh Yadav too demanded the teacher be sacked immediately, and called her a "blot on society".
"The feeling of hatred towards a child in the temple of knowledge has made the whole country hang its head in shame," said BJP MP Varun Gandhi.
Lok Sabha MP And AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi termed the incident "a product of the last 9 years" and demanded strict action against the teacher.
The viral video goes on to show children taking turns to slap the Muslim student, who was seen in tears. The child rights body said that it has also ordered for action to be taken against the teacher.
National Commission for Protection of Child Rights Chairperson, Priyank Kanoongo, urged people not to reveal the identity of a boy by sharing the video.