Indian teacher flees after beating lowest caste student to death over spelling mistake
A teacher in India has fled after being accused of killing a 15-year-old student who is part of the lowest caste system in the country. The teacher allegedly killed Nikhil Dohre, who is part of the Dalit caste system, by striking him with a rod and kicking him after he made a spelling mistake. The student then fell unconscious and died from his injuries at a hospital in northern Uttar Pradesh state.
The student apparently misspelt the word “social” in an exam, according to his father’s complaint to the police. Police are now searching the area for the teacher as violent protests are taking place over the incident. Police officer Mahendra Pratap Singh told AFP news agency that they will arrest the teacher.
“He is on the run, but we will arrest him soon.”
The Dalit community sits at the lowest level of India’s caste system and has been discriminated against for centuries. Formerly known as the “untouchables,” the community has members in the Auraiya district, where the attack happened. Al Jazeera’s Pavni Mittal says protesters are demanding the teacher be arrested before creating the boy’s body. The violent protests have included torching a police vehicle and other dangerous acts. Mittal said there is increasing anger against caste-based violence in India, where untouchability is legally banned but remains widespread.
“The family says the boy was beaten by his teacher a few weeks ago for making a spelling error. Now the family has called this a caste-based hate crime. According to government data, five-caste-based hate crimes take place every hour on average in the country. The hatred is still so strong that it even extends to young children and ends up killing them.”
Singh says the country should accept the fact that caste-based hate crimes continue to exist. She says it is only after accepting this face that change can happen.
SOURCE: Aljazeera
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