A government teacher in Odisha's Mayurbhanj district was suspended for allegedly thrashing 31 students with a bamboo stick for not touching her feet after the morning prayers.
The accused teacher has been identified as Sukanti Kar.
"After the morning prayer assembly that day, all the students went to their respective classes. Allegedly, some students of class 6, 7 and 8 were questioned about why they did not touch her feet after the prayer," said Block Education Officer Biplab Kar.
"The students who did not touch her feet were brutally beaten by the accused teacher with a bamboo stick," the officer added.
When the students' parents heard about the incident, they reached the school and demanded strict action against the teacher.
The injured students were taken to Betnoti Hospital for treatment.
"On the information of the headmaster Purnachandra Ojha, we immediately reached the school along with Cluster resource center coordinator Debashish Sahu and a member of the school management committee and investigated the matter. We met the injured students and recorded their statements," the block officer said.
(With inputs from Dev Kumar)
