Sitapur incident: Headmaster who lost temper was harassed, says UP minister

Lucknow, Sep 26 (PTI) Uttar Pradesh's Minister of Technical Education Ashish Patel on Friday termed a recent Sitapur assault incident extremely unfortunate.

In a post in Hindi on X, he said, "The Sitapur teacher incident is extremely unfortunate. Brijendra Verma, a hardworking, honest and regular school attendee, was harassed to the point of losing his temper. It is unfair to unilaterally blame a teacher based on a mere 20-second video clip.

"Based on the review of the CCTV footage from the time he entered the BSA office until the end, strict action should be taken against whoever is found guilty. What were the circumstances that led to the teacher committing this act? The truth must be revealed." Patel said he has spoken with Basic Education Minister Sandeep Singh in this regard and the latter has assured him that the incident will be investigated impartially and strict action will be taken against anyone found guilty.

A basic education officer (BEO) was allegedly assaulted in his office by a headmaster during an inquiry into a complaint from the staff of his school in Sitapur district, officials said on Tuesday.

Speaking to the media, BEO Akhilesh Pratap Singh said Verma, the headmaster of the Nadwa Primary School in the Mahmudabad area of Sitapur, was harassing an assistant teacher of the school.

After receiving a complaint regarding the matter, the BEO summoned the headmaster to his office to discuss the issue. Singh began the inquiry by having both the headmaster and the assistant teacher face each other.

"When everyone present indicated that the headmaster was guilty, he suddenly became enraged, took out his belt and attacked me," Singh claimed.

Following the assault, the headmaster was handed over to police and has been suspended from his position by the BEO with immediate effect, according to the officials. PTI NAV RC