Headmistress jailed for torturing youth

HYDERABAD - A court in Andhra Pradesh’s Warangal district Wednesday sent the headmistress of a government-run primary school to 14 days judicial custody for torturing students with a burning log.

Police produced 50-year-old Shruti Keerti in the court Wednesday.

The government has already suspended the headmistress, who caused burns to 13 children aged between five and seven years on Monday.

Angry over the noise in the classrooms, the headmistress singed the children with firewood. She plucked the burning log from the hearth where the mid-day meal was being cooked for the children and pressed it on to the hands, neck and legs of the children. The children received grievous injuries.

The shocking incident came to light Tuesday when the parents along with their children staged a protest outside the school in Jamandlapalli village of Mahabubabad mandal in Warangal district.

Acting swiftly, the District Education Officer of Warangal suspended the headmistress and ordered a probe for taking further action.