Delhi schoolgirl beaten by teacher dies

New Delhi, Mar 27 (UNI) Rinki Kaushik, the class ten student of a school in Kondli, who slipped into a coma a few months ago after being hit by a teacher, died in a hospital here.

Rinki, a student of the Dinkar Model school in Bagh, died at Maharaja Agrasen Hospital in Punjabi Bagh late last night after remaining in a state of coma for over two months, hospital sources said.

She died of respiratory disorder at 2355 hrs yesterday, the sources said.

The student had been admitted to the hospital four months ago with serious head injuries. Her parents alleged that she had been meted out corporal punishment by a teacher of the school as she was not keen to taken tuitions from him.

In December, Rinki slipped into a coma. Subsequently, an inquiry was ordered into the incident by the Delhi education Minister Arvinder Singh Lovely who also visited the hospital to enquire about the well being of the student.

The inquiry was ordered by Delhi Government's education department following a complaint lodged by Naresh Kumar, father of the victim, that his daughter was awarded corporal punishment due to which she went into coma.

Based on the report of the inquiry, headed by the Dy Director of Education (East) R N Sharma, a show cause notice was issued to the school on February 20.

In his report, the DDE (East) said the school created hindrance to the inquiry by not furnishing the required records.

The inquiry revealed that though the school was recognised by the Education Directorate upto Class VIII, it ran unauthorised classes in violation of rule 45(1) of the DSEAR-73, which prohibits opening of new classes without prior approval of competent authority.

In its plea, the school authorities said the school is recognised till class eight, meaning thereby that Rinki Kaushik a tenth grader cannot be regarded the student of the school.

The Education Department found the reply of the school unsatisfactory as documents like fee card and the progress report of Rinki Kaushik showed that she was a student of class X at Dinkar National Model School.

The enquiry revealed that Rinki was physically abused by the teacher and Principal of the school due to which she was admitted to the ICU of Agrasen Hospital for Blood clotting in brain. Follwing the report, the Government recognition for the school was withdrawn.

It is notable that the Delhi High Court, in its CWP 196/98 (Parents for Meaningful Education Vs. Union of India and Others), prohibited corporal and physical punishment.

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