Gujarat: Class 9 boy assaulted, made to do menial chores in Amreli school

RAJKOT: A 14-year-old has accused two senior boys of his residential school of ragging him. The Class 9 student has alleged that he was asked to do laundry work as well as being thrashed with a belt. The boy's father has filed a complaint with the Amreli taluka police station on Friday night.
After the alleged ragging and harassment by his seniors at the Jawahar Navoday Vidhayalaya in Mota Bhandariya village in Amreli, the boy had run away from the school hostel on February 17.
According to the case details, the victim had taken admission in the school only this year. Since it is a residential school, the boy had recently shifted to the hostel after Covid-19 restrictions were relaxed and offline classes started. The boy is a resident of Sanadi village in Kukavav taluka of Amreli district.
The incident came to light when Hareshbhai of Jhalia village found the Class 9 boy hiding in his farm on February 17 and appeared to be in a shock. He asked Hareshbhai to call his father. On receiving the information about his son, the father reached Jhalia village and took his son home.
In the police complaint, the father gave the names of two students — one from Class 11 and the other from Class 12 — who had allegedly ragged his son at different times.
According to the police complaint, on February 15, the Class 11 boy accused the victim of dropping toast crumbs on his bed and thrashed him with a belt. The next day, the Class 12 boy ordered the victim to clean his dirty clothes. When the victim refused, the senior boy beat him up. Meanwhile, the Class 11 boy also reached the spot and both of them threatened to kill the victim if he complained about them to the hostel rector or to the school principal.
Traumatized by the assault and threat, the Class 9 boy escaped from the hostel and reached the farm of Hareshbhai from where he called his father. Sources said that the boy was earlier made to clean toilets by the seniors, but it was not clear if it were the same two boys.
Based on the complaint filed by the victim’s father, police have booked the two boys for assault and issuing threats and started an investigation. Police said that the victim’s father will be filing a formal complaint with the school on Monday.