A first information report (FIR) was registered on Saturday against Tripta Tyagi, a private school teacher who allegedly asked students to hit their seven-year-old Muslim classmate at Khubbapur village in Muzaffarnagar district of Uttar Pradesh. In a video that has gone viral, Ms. Tyagi can be seen telling students lining up to hit their crying classmate to hit him harder, while referring pejoratively to his faith.
The case has been registered at the Mansurpur police station in the district as a non-cognisable report under Sections 323 (punishment for voluntarily causing hurt) and 504 (intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of the peace) of the Indian Penal Code, effectively meaning that the police cannot arrest the accused without a warrant and need court approval for an investigation. The case was registered based on a complaint by the child’s father, who had earlier called for a mutual settlement.
