UP school slap video: FIR filed, teacher says minor issue, blames politicians

Muzaffarnagar superintendent of police Satya Narayan Prajapati on Saturday said that an FIR has been filed against a school teacher who appeared in a viral video, instructing students to slap another student from a minority community in a school in Uttar Pradesh.

According to the police, an FIR was filed based on sections 323 (voluntarily causing hurt) and 504 (insult intended to provoke breach of peace) of the Indian Penal Code in Mansurpur police station.

The SP said that they have seen the video in which the teacher instructed her students to physically harm a classmate as a consequence of not memorising multiplication tables.

"The video also contained inappropriate remarks. Pertinent authorities have been notified about the incident, and appropriate administrative measures will be initiated against the teacher,” said the SP.

However, in defence of her actions, the accused teacher Tripta Tyagi, has downplayed the incident, labelling it a "minor issue" despite the registration of a case against her.

She justified her behaviour by asserting that she had instructed some students to slap the boy owing to his failure to complete his homework, and claimed that pressure from the child's parents motivated her to take strict measures, saying that she is "handicapped and cannot employ this approach".

Tyagi also denied any communal motive in the matter and contended that the video had been manipulated to give it a communal context.

She said that the video was recorded by the child's cousin, who was present in the class, and alleged that the offensive language she used against Muslims was selectively included.

Tyagi claimed that the situation has been magnified beyond its actual significance since the video clip was widely shared. While acknowledging her error, she argued that the incident had been "unnecessarily blown out of proportion".

She also directed her remarks at politicians, emphasising that the incident was relatively inconsequential and criticising leaders like Rahul Gandhi for publicising it.

Tyagi questioned the impact of such incidents going viral on teachers' ability to effectively educate, suggesting that everyday occurrences were being needlessly sensationalised.

The video of the incident which took place in Khabbarpur village, went viral on social media on Friday.

In the purported video, the teacher could be heard saying in Hindi, “I have declared that all Muslim children should go...", as she asked rest of the class to remain silent and hit the student.

The father of the eight-year-old victim later told media persons that they have reached a compromise in the matter and don't want to pursue any case.

"We have decided not to pursue the case. The school authorities have returned our fees. We have decided that our child will not go to the school any more," the father told the media.