Dalit Student Allegedly Beaten by Teacher for Drinking Water from His Bottle; SC/ST Act Invoked in Madhya Pradesh

Shivpuri (Madhya Pradesh): An eight-year-old Dalit student studying in Class 4 at a government primary school in Madhya Pradesh's Shivpuri district was allegedly beaten with a stick and subjected to caste-based abuse by his teacher after he drank water from the teacher's bottle, according to a First Information Report (FIR) registered by the police.

The incident took place on July 27 at the Government Primary School in Ukawal village, under Lukwasa police outpost of Kolaras police station. An FIR (No. 0269/2026) was registered on July 28 at 2:56 pm under Sections 296(a) and 115(2) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), along with Sections 3(1)(r), 3(1)(s), and 3(2)(va) of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989.

According to the FIR, the complainant, Raju Jatav, alleged that his eight-year-old son, Abhi Jatav, a Class 4 student at the government school, drank water from a bottle kept by teacher Lokesh Sharma after feeling thirsty during school hours. The complaint states that the teacher reacted by abusing the child with casteist slurs and assaulting him with a stick.

The FIR further states that another student, Rohit Jatav, a Class 2 pupil, witnessed the incident. After returning home, the child narrated the incident to his father, following which the family approached the police seeking legal action against the teacher.

Police have registered the case and initiated an investigation. The FIR records that the complaint was received at Lukwasa police outpost on July 28, following which offences under the BNS and the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act were invoked against the accused teacher.

The FIR does not record the teacher's version of events, and the allegations are presently under investigation. Authorities have not yet announced any arrests or departmental action against the accused at the time of writing.