A government school principal and a class teacher have been booked by the police in Faridkot district. The teachers allegedly brutally thrashed a 14-year-old student with sticks, forced him to clean graffiti, and locked him inside a bathroom for two hours over suspicion that he had written objectionable language on a school toilet wall.

The incident took place at the Government High School in Doad village, Faridkot, on July 14. Following a medical examination, a formal criminal case was registered against the accused staff members today.

According to the police complaint filed by Chamkaur Singh, a daily wage labourer from the village, his 14-year-old son, Arshdeep Singh, is a Class 10 student at the local Government High School.

On July 14, Arshdeep went to school as usual. At around 1 pm, his grandfather received a phone call from the principal, Tarsem Lal Moga. He ordered the family to come to the school immediately without revealing the reason.

Upon reaching the school, Singh alleged that he found his teenage son weeping uncontrollably. The principal asked him to take the boy home, stating that his name had been struck off the school rolls. Arshdeep told his father that some unknown person had scribbled inappropriate words and graffiti on the walls of the school bathroom. On mere suspicion, the principal and class teacher Kulwinder Singh singled him out.

The minor alleged that they dragged him into the bathroom, where they beat him mercilessly with wooden sticks and forced him to manually erase and scrub off the objectionable writing. The boy further alleged that he was locked inside the bathroom for more than two hours as punishment.

Singh claimed that his son had severe contusions, bruises and visible welts across his back and was rushed to the Civil Hospital in Bajakhana, where the minor was admitted for treatment.

Observing the nature of the injuries, the attending medical officer prepared a Medico-Legal Report and formally informed the local police station. Following the hospital’s notification and a detailed statement recorded from the victim’s father, the police registered an FIR against the principal and teacher.