The Keonjhar district administration has begun investigation into a shocking incident in which a Class I tribal girl student of the Talasahi Sevashram tribal residential school was driven out of the school by a woman teacher on the ground that she was a “witch” who sucked the blood of hostel inmates at night.
Additional District Collector and present Collector in-charge Sangram Keshari Swain, who suspended the teacher for calling the girl a witch after visiting the school for an on-the-spot inquiry, later told reporters that stern action would be taken against the headmistress of the Sevashram.
Meanwhile, the girl, who returned to the Sevashram on Sunday, said she would continue her studies and become a good citizen in future.The incident came to light when the seven-year-old girl from Juladera Kenduadari Munda Sahi village of Khuntapada panchayat under the Telkoi police limits returned to the Sevashram with her father on January 3 after the winter vacation. But the teachers branding her a witch refused her reentry to the hostel.
Dejected and shocked over the incident, the girl’s father lodged a complaint with the district Collector. A team of senior officials including the in-charge Collector accompanied by Sub-Collector Pratap Chandra Hota and District Education Officer Krushna Chandra Nayak visited the school.
As a measure, the administration relieved the headmistress of her charge and entrusted it to Madhusmita Priyadarshini, the Shiksha Sahayak of the school.
During investigation, the team came to know about a similar incident that had taken place in this Sevashram last year in which the teachers refused to allow Gurucharan Jamuda, a nine-year-old tribal boy to stay in the school after branding him a witch.The boy is now studying in Class-II at a primary school at Durlavpur, sources said.