A girl of Class VII at a school in North Dinajpur, made to stand and squat repeatedly 250 times while holding her ears by a teacher, fell ill and had to be hospitalised.

The 13-year-old girl from Karandighi block is under treatment at a private nursing home in Bihar's Purnea.

Sources said the student of Altapur High School in Karandighi was not feeling well on Friday and left school during recess without informing any teacher.

"As she went to school on Saturday, teacher Bhajan Roy scolded her for leaving the school in such a manner. He then ordered her to stand and squat repeatedly while holding her ears. My daughter got tired after a while and requested the teacher to let her pause, but the teacher didn’t listen. He also beat her,” claimed the girl’s father.

Sources said that finally the girl fell unconscious and was rushed to the rural hospital in Karandighi and then to a private nursing home in Raiganj. Later, the family members took her to the private nursing home in Purnea.

On Monday, the girl’s family filed a complaint with Karandighi police.

“We want justice. How can a teacher act in such an inhuman manner? The police and the administration should take steps against him. My daughter is so scared that she doesn’t want to go to school,” her father said.

On Tuesday, the managing committee of the school convened a meeting on the issue. However, accused teacher Bhajan didn’t attend it. He also could not be contacted by this newspaper.

Headmaster Aminul Islam expressed concern over the incident. “We will sit with the managing committee again to come to a decision on this issue,” he said.

Police said they were probing the case. Sources from the block administration, too, said they were looking into it.

“The girl’s family has filed a complaint. Police are investigating the case,” said Karandighi BDO Nitish Tamang.