Jodhpur: In a shocking incident, a lower caste Dalit student of a government school was beaten up by his teacher till he started vomiting for touching plates being reserved for the upper caste.

According to media reports, the episode happened on October 1, a day before Gandhi Jayanti in Government Higher Secondary School in Osian town of Jodhpur, when a seven-year-old picked up a green coloured plate (reserved for the upper caste) where mid-day meal was being served.

“I picked up a plate reserved for upper caste students mistakenly and started having the rice on it. When the teacher saw this, he started hitting me badly on my head. I started vomiting,” Ramesh, a Dalit, told TOI.

According to Dalit Adhikar Network, “the plates there are coloured red and green for Dalits and upper castes, respectively. The seven-year-old had to be rushed to Umaid Hospital in Jodhpur. His treatment went on for six days.”

Malaram, father of the Dalit student, was also allegedly beaten up when he came to pick up his son from school.

“The cook in the school noticed Ramesh picking up a plate reserved for upper caste students. He complained about this to the teacher, who bashed up Ramesh. He kicked Ramesh and pulled his hair. He thrashed him severely, and this led to some internal injuries in his ears, because of which he still fears going to the school. When I visited the school, the teacher thrashed me too,” said his father Mala Ram.

On Thursday a public hearing was held by Dalit Adhikar Network at Pant Krishi Bhavan in collaboration with Action Aid and Jai Bhim Vikas Sikshan Sansthan and it came to fore that separate plates were kept for Dalit students and those belonging to a higher caste.

A complaint has been filed against the teacher but police is yet to take any action against him. The district officer, elementary education, suspended the teacher and transferred him to Jodhpur. But the teacher is still present at that same school.”