An FIR has been filed against Rajeshwari, the headmistress of Bangalore Tamil Sanga Kamarajar High School, for ill-treating Dalit children in the school.

As per a report by The News Minute, several school children and parents say that the headmistress and staff target Dalit children and make them do demeaning jobs. If they refuse, they are threatened they won’t be promoted or their transfer certificate will be withheld.

A Dalit student said as quoted by The News Minute, “When the school reopened, one student spilled a drop of sanitiser on the ground. The peon came and spat on his face and asked what they eat for food. He further said, ‘You are beef eaters, stay away’.”

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As more stories of discrimination emerged from the school, parents protested outside the premises on December 9. Angry parents and students wore blue shawls, shouting slogans like, “Dalit children are not slaves.” They were joined by members of Ambedkar Dalit Sangarsha Samithi.

G Madhiarasan, President of Ambedkar Dalit Sangarsh Samithi in Bengulur City, holds the headmistress responsible for the plight of the students.

“Dalits come here to get education, but instead, the school administration is making the children do other things such as washing vessels and cleaning the premises. If the students refuse, they get beaten,” he said.

An FIR has been registered at the KG Halli police station against headmistress Rajeshwari and another school staffer named Srikantamurthy.

The police have booked the two under relevant sections of Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act.

They have also booked the two under Indian Penal Code (IPC) section 34 [(Criminal) acts done by several persons in furtherance of common intention], 323 (Punishment for voluntarily causing hurt), 324 (Voluntarily causing hurt by dangerous weapons or means).