The Karnataka education department has suspended the headmistress of a government school in Kolar for allegedly thrashing a 12-year-old student for skipping class to make a Ganesh idol and leaving the child with a fractured elbow.

The headmistress, identified as Hemalatha, was suspended on September 15, the very day the education department received information about the incident that is said to have happened on September 12 in the run-up to Ganesh Chaturthi at the Allikalli Village Primary School, Kolar Gold Fields township, in Kolar district near Bangalore.

“Our preliminary inquiry revealed that the child, a Class VII student, had skipped class and was in Class IV preparing a Ganesh idol. When she was found missing from her class for 30 minutes, the headmistress located her and allegedly beat her with a stick,” Kolar Gold Fields block education officer Munivenkataramachari told The Telegraph on Thursday.

Munivenkataramachari met the student and filed a preliminary report based on the child’s account and the medical report that confirmed a fracture on her left elbow. She has since been unable to attend classes.

“We suspended the headmistress based on the primary findings. She will remain under suspension until the DDPI (deputy director of public instruction) completes his investigation and files his report. Further action will depend on the findings of the DDPI,” the officer said.

He ruled out any communal angle.

“Although it is an offence under the Juvenile Justice Act, the child’s parents did not want to pursue a police case. They were satisfied with the department action against the headmistress,” he said.

Fresh charge in UP

A teacher in Uttar Pradesh had earlier caused an uproar by getting Hindu students to beat up a Muslim classmate.

The police in Uttar Pradesh’s Muzaffarnagar have added Section 75 of the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015, to the other charges slapped on Tripta Tyagi, the headmistress and owner of the now-closed school in the district.

Akhil Chaudhary, the local police inspector, said: “We added a fresh section against the headmistress on Wednesday on the direction of the Supreme Court.” Earlier, the police had booked Tyagi for voluntarily causing hurt and intentionally insulting someone with ulterior motives.

The father of the child was quoted by local reporters as saying on Thursday: “The Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind has taken the responsibility of the education of my son. He had been admitted to another school but couldn’t go there after a day because most students used to remind him of the psychological trauma he had suffered before. Now, the Jamiat has made arrangements for his education at home.”