Six-year-old dies after allegedly being slapped by teacher at private school

A six-year-old boy died in a classroom at a private school here after being allegedly slapped by a teacher, police said.

According to a video which went viral on Thursday, the kindergarten student was seen standing near the teacher's desk in a queue with a slate while his homework was being checked. The boy appears distressed and was seen crying before the teacher, waving his hands as the teacher handled his uniform.

The teacher then pulls the child closer and allegedly slaps him while the boy stood still for a brief moment before suddenly collapsing unconscious onto the teacher's lap. Later, the teacher tries to revive the student.

Following the incident, the school staff and others rushed to the classroom and took the child to a hospital, where he was declared dead.

Family members later staged a protest and alleged that the child's fatal collapse was triggered by extreme panic and distress following the alleged assault.

"The boy collapsed in the classroom following an alleged assault by a teacher and later died," a police official told PTI.

Andhra Pradesh Education Minister Nara Lokesh said that the death of six-year-old after being allegedly assaulted by a teacher was deeply distressing.

He said legal action was being taken against those responsible as well as the concerned school management.

Lokesh expressed his deepest condolences to the boy's parents and urged them to remain strong, saying that no one could compensate for the loss they had suffered.

"Our government will stand by you in every possible way," he said in a post on 'X'.

Meanwhile, the School Education Department said the incident was extremely unfortunate and distressing and that the government was taking it very seriously.

"Immediately after the incident, the concerned School Education Department officials conducted an inquiry and submitted a preliminary report. Based on the preliminary report, a three-member committee has been constituted to comprehensively examine the facts," the department said in a release late on Thursday.

The committee comprises the Visakhapatnam Regional Joint Director (RJD), District Education Officer (DEO) and Revenue Divisional Officer (RDO).

The department said steps were also being taken to conduct sensitisation programmes to ensure teachers deal with students sensitively, responsibly and with a humanitarian approach.

A case was registered under section 194 of the BNSS, which deals with suspicious death.