Bengal student murder: Protest erupts at Birbhum school, headmaster thrashed

KOLKATA: A protest erupted at a school in West Bengal's Birbhum district on Thursday, a day after its teacher was arrested in connection with the murder of a girl student.

The situation turned so violent at Shyampahari Sri Ramakrishna Shikshapeeth in Rampurhat that policemen were called to disperse the irate parents and bring the situation under control.

The protestors thrashed the headmaster, who was rescued and sent to a hospital for treatment.

As soon as the headmaster entered the school, the parents and local people thrashed him. Later, when the police personnel tried to stop the protesters and rescue the headmaster, the crowd tried to catch hold of him. More policemen arrived at the scene and brought the situation under control.

The protesters alleged that the headmaster repeatedly tried to shield the accused teacher.

An angry parent told media persons, "Can we send our children to this school where a teacher is accused of killing a student? The headmaster tried to shield him and did not take any action even after the parents of the deceased girl had pointed a finger at him. Earlier, other students had complained about this teacher. But even then, no action was taken."

On Wednesday, Birbhum Police arrested the physics teacher of the school after the decomposed body of a seventh standard student was recovered from a sack, about 20 days after she went missing.

The family of the deceased accused the physics teacher of that school, Manoj Kumar Pal, of kidnapping and murdering the student.

Based on their complaint, the police arrested the accused teacher.