Beaten by Teacher For Touching Water Pot, Dalit Boy Dies of Injuries in Raj's Jalore; Internet Cut in Area

A nine-year-old Dalit boy died on Saturday after he was beaten up allegedly by a teacher for touching a drinking water pot in a private school in Jalore district of Rajasthan, police said. The incident took place on July 20 at a private school in Surana village in Jalore district of Rajasthan. The injured child, Indra Meghwal, was taken to a hospital in Ahmedabad for treatment.

However, he died in the hospital during treatment on Saturday, police officials said.

The teacher, Chail Singh, 40, has been arrested and charged with murder and under sections of the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe (Prevention of Atrocities) Act. The internet has also been suspended in the area to prevent the situation from escalating.

Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot expressed grief over the incident and said that the teacher has been booked and arrested for murder and under SC/ST act.

The state education department has initiated an inquiry into the matter and Rajasthan SC Commission chairman Khiladi Lal Bairwa ordered that it be taken up under the case officer’s scheme for fast investigation.

Former Rajasthan deputy chief minister Sachin Pilot will visit Jalore on Tuesday to meet the family of the boy. “We have to end these evils prevalent in society,” Pilot tweeted.

Former Congress president Rahul Gandhi condemned the incident, saying the accused should be given the strictest of punishment. “The incident involving the death of an innocent Dalit child after he was brutally thrashed by a ruthless teacher in Jalore is very sad. I condemn this cruel act. My condolences to the victim’s family,” he said in a tweet in Hindi. “The accused has been arrested under harsh sections. He should be given the harshest punishment,” Gandhi also said.

BJP leader Shehzad Poonawalla targeted the state government and asked how long injustice on Dalits continues.

Superintendent of Police of Jalore Harsh Vardhan Agarwalla said the boy was beaten up badly and added that the reason cited for it — touching a drinking water pot — was yet to be investigated. “We have filed a case against the teacher, Chail Singh, under section 302 of the IPC and the SC/ST Act and have arrested him,” the police officer said.

The boy’s father said he suffered injuries in his face and ear and almost became unconscious. The boy was taken to the district hospital, from where he was referred to a hospital in Udaipur.

“He remained admitted at the hospital in Udaipur for about a week, but seeing no improvement, we took him to Ahmedabad. But his condition did not improve even there and he finally succumbed on Saturday,” the boy’s father Devaram Meghwal said. The state education department has asked two officials to probe the matter and submit a report to the block education officer.

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