Agra: A special SC/ST court in Mainpuri sentenced two govt teachers to six months in prison and imposed fines after they abused and assaulted their Dalit principal for sitting on a chair. Additional sessions judge Jay Prakash handed down the sentence to Yogendra Singh Yadav and Omprakash Lodhi. The two had taught at a govt inter college in Ramnagar.
The incident took place on July 19, 2017, when principal Babu Shri Krishna Datt was in his office. The teachers entered, objected to him sitting on the chair, hurled casteist abuses and assaulted him, overturning his desk and chair.
The principal, a resident of Fatehpur district, said the accused, both in their early 50s, assaulted him outside Kishni police station two days later when he went to lodge a complaint. They hurled casteist abuses again and threatened to kill him.
An FIR was registered under IPC sections 323 (voluntarily causing hurt), 504 (intentional insult) and 506 (criminal intimidation), along with section 3(1)(d) of the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act.
Though the principal later turned hostile during cross-examination, the court considered his initial statement and complaint. It held that the defence had failed to explain why he would falsely implicate his colleagues and observed that he may have faced pressure to retract his statement.
On Monday, the court sentenced both teachers to six months of simple imprisonment and fined each of them Rs 6,500 under the SC/ST Act, according to govt counsel MP Singh.
Courtesy : TOI
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