Guwahati: Two teachers missing, a 12-year-old dead - a school in Guwahati has closed temporarily as parents, the administration, and several young children try to digest those facts.
Mousham Raj Mahanta died in hospital on Monday - allegedly because of injuries caused by his computer teacher, and the vice-principal of Saraswati Shiksha Niketan, which is privately-run. The Class 6 student, his classmates say, was beaten by them on May 25 for not doing his homework.
When he went home that evening, Mousham's parents inquired about his badly-bruised knees. He told them that he had hit his leg while boarding his school bus.
Over the next few days, however, his friends told his parents what had happened. When the Mahantas visited the school, the vice-principal allegedly admitted to beating Mousham. The Mahantas then got a series of doctors to check Mousham; the diagnosis was that the septic infection in his knees was spreading. He died on June 1 in hospital.
The teachers are missing. The principal has been taken into custody.
"The teachers had absconded when they realised the critical nature of the patient even before it was brought to the notice of the police. Now the search is on," says Partha Mahanta, a police officer investigating Mousham's death.
The police and the doctors who treated Mousham are unable to clarify whether the child had any pre-existing medical condition that could have caused his death.
"If the guilty cannot be punished, then give me back my son," says Mousham's mother, Geetanjali. Before dying, she says, her son kissed her and said he wanted to grow up so he could look after her. Mousham's older brother holds his mother as she describes the son she lost.
Assam holds the record for the state with the maximum cases of corporal punishment in schools. The state government has enacted a law banning corporal punishment, and teachers can be prosecuted on criminal charges, if they are found guilty.
The National Commission for the Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) and UNICEF have condemned the incident. The Chief Minister of Assam has promised severe punishment for Mousham's teachers if it is proven that they did indeed hurt the child.