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Schoolmates thrash dalit for not wearing uniform

'Outrageous' is a mild description for what happened at a high school in Kerala's Ranni.

Thirteen students there beat up a poor dalit classmate. Worse, they did it on orders from their school manager, a supposedly mature, supposedly rational, adult.

Reason: Binni, the dalit student, dared to violate the institution's strict dress code -- he came in wearing 'civilian' clothes as his uniform, the only pair he owns, had been put for washing.

The scandalous incident doesn't stop there. After the thrashing, the dalit boy -- again on orders from the manager -- was forced to wear his wet uniform.

The Students' Federation of India has taken up the case. They claim that the manager, too, assaulted the student, and have launched an agitation.

According to the SFI, the incident occurred on January 27 when the manager caught some students without uniforms. He sent them home, telling them to come back in the correct dress.

But Binni, a class X student, returned without the uniform, pleading that he had only one pair, which was yet to dry.

But the manager, the SFI leaders claim, sent him back and forced him to wear the wet uniform as penalty for violating the dress code.

Plus, there was the thrashing, dished out with 13+1 pairs of hands, the SFI says.

UNI

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