Four students suspended for beating up junior

Kapurthala (Punjab), Aug 8

Four senior students of the defence ministry-run Sainik School in this Punjab town were suspended Saturday for allegedly beating and seriously injuring a junior student.

The victim, Lovepreet Singh, a class 9 student was given medical treatment Saturday, hours after he lay in the school hostel with a fractured arm and other injuries.

Four Class 12 students are alleged to have beaten him with sticks and belts Friday night for not obeying their orders.

The ordeal of the victim, who belongs to Punjab's border town of Tarn Taran, came to light when his parents incidentally came to the school Saturday for a parent-teacher meeting.

School principal Col. Satbir Singh said that four students had been suspended.

"We have formed a committee of three teachers to look into the matter. The suspended students have been asked to call their parents and further action will be taken," the principal told reporters.

The victim told the media that he had complained to the hostel warden that some senior students were harassing him but no action was taken. Instead, he was severely beaten up the same night.

After his medical treatment in a private hospital here, the victim's parents took him back to their home.

Sainik Schools prepare students for entry to the National Defence Academy (NDA) at Khadakvasla near Pune. There are 24 such schools in the country.