A teacher at a private school in Vasai has been arrested on a charge of culpable homicide not amounting to murder after a 13-year-old student died, allegedly as a result of being forced to perform 100 sit-ups with her bag on her back as punishment for arriving late.
The incident, which occurred on November 8, has exposed serious regulatory failures, revealing that the school had been operating illegally beyond its permitted capacity and from an allegedly illegal structure.
According to a TOI report, the teacher, identified as Mamta Yadav, punished the Class 6 student, along with few other pupils, for being ten minutes late. The girl’s mother alleges the punishment was “inhuman,” as it was carried out with the child’s school bag on her back.
After returning home, the girl’s health deteriorated significantly. She was first admitted to a hospital in Vasai before being transferred to the state-run JJ Hospital in Byculla, where she died a week later, as confirmed by officials from the Waliv police station.
The tragic death sparked outcry, leading to protests by local residents and political workers. This public pressure culminated in a First Information Report (FIR) being lodged against Yadav late on Tuesday, followed by her arrest.
A police official stated that the 13-year-old had pre-existing health issues and could not bear the strain of the excessive physical exertion.
In the wake of the tragedy, the school itself has come under intense scrutiny. An investigation by the education department, cited by TOI, found that the Sativali school had been enrolling and teaching students for Classes 9 and 10 despite only having official permission to operate up to Class 8.
Furthermore, the school was found to be operating from a “chawl-like structure” with inadequate infrastructure. The Vasai-Virar City Municipal Corporation (VVCMC) had previously declared the structure illegal and placed a warning board at its entrance. However, it is alleged that the school authorities masked this notice from view.
This has drawn sharp criticism from local activists, who hold the civic body partly accountable for the tragedy. Activist Terence Hendriques questioned the VVCMC's effectiveness, stating that its job did not end with merely erecting a warning board. “Had it taken suitable action earlier, we could have avoided this tragedy,” he was cited by TOI, demanding immediate notices be sent to all illegal school structures.
Sources indicate that the VVCMC has now sent a notice to the school, asking it to produce all permissions required to operate classes from the premises. The teacher has since been removed from her position and separate probes by both the education department and the municipal corporation are underway.
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