Berhampur, Jan 20: Ganjam district authorities received a complaint alleging that a Class IX student was physically assaulted by the headmaster of a government high school in Humma area of the district.

The incident reportedly took place at a government high school under the Scheduled Tribe and Scheduled Caste Development Department. The injured student was identified as Antaryami Behera, a resident of Santarapur village in Balugaon area of Khordha district.

According to the complaint submitted to the Ganjam ADM, the incident occurred on January 10, when the student was allegedly watching dance videos on a mobile phone along with his classmates in preparation for a school dance programme. The family alleged that the school headmaster, Ashok Kumar Padhi, along with some teachers, objected to this and physically assaulted the student using a bamboo stick, leaving him bleeding.

Antaryami said, "I, along with my three friends watching dance videos on a mobile phone at 11pm on January 9. The next day, on January 10, headmaster Sir called all four of us into his office and hit us with a bamboo stick."

The complaint further alleged that after the incident, the student was confined in another room within the school premises. The matter came to light on January 16, when the student’s maternal aunt, Rajani Behera, reached the school and took him for medical treatment.

On January 19, in the absence of the District Collector, family members met Additional District Magistrate Sunil Kumar Kerketta and submitted a formal complaint, seeking strict action against those allegedly involved.

The student also alleged that teachers at the school routinely forced students to perform non-academic tasks such as washing cars and sweeping classrooms. He further claimed that three other students were subjected to similar physical assaults in the past. These allegations were included in the complaint submitted to the administration.

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District officials said the matter has been taken up for examination and appropriate action will be initiated after verifying the allegations. No official response from the school authorities was available at the time of filing this report.