Warden: It was local remedy
The Visvabharati authorities tied themselves in knots in their efforts to defend the indefensible act of its warden forcing a Class 5 girl to drink her own urine to get rid of the bed-wetting habit. They addressed a news conference wherein they explained that the warden made the girl lick her own urine as a totka (local remedy) to cure her of her habit of bed-wetting. This statement virtually condoned superstition.
On the issue of the arrest of her parents, Manoj Mistry and Poonam Mistry, the Visvabharati authorities claimed that they had just informed the Bolpur police station but had not filed an FIR. The Bolpur police, however, contested this claim and said in that case why did they accept the FIR number.
The four-member committee constituted by the varsity submitted its report which confirmed the Class 5 girl’s complaint against the warden. The warden has been suspended. Although the local court released Ms Poddar on bail, it chastised the police for slapping mild charges against the warden. The court also ordered the varsity to bear all expenses of the girl’s treatment by deducting them from the salary of the accused warden. A PIL was also filed in Calcutta high court on the matter.
The girl has been so traumatised that she has refused to stay in the hostel. “I can go to my school to attend classes from home but I will not stay in the hostel,” she said. She is a student of Visvabharati’s Patha Bhavan. Her parents live at Makrampur area which is at a distance of five km from the campus.
Meanwhile, the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights has taken cognisance of the matter and has sought a report from the state government and the Visvabharati authorities.
Describing the incident as “barbaric”, NCPCR chairperson Shantha Sinha said bed-wetting was a normal phenomenon among growing children. “Meting out this kind of punishment to the poor child was shocking,” she said.
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