Bhubaneswar: In a shocking incident, a teacher at a primary school in Odisha’s Cuttack district was brutally hacked with a machete by a man when she was teaching in the classroom on Monday.

Suchishmita Muduli, 25, sustained grievous cuts on several parts of her body and was rushed to the nearby Charichhak Community Health Centre (CHC) in a profusely bleeding condition. She was referred to the SCB Medical College and Hospital in Cuttack, where her condition remains critical.

The incident took place at Ambapara Primary School in Niali block just minutes before the midday recess. The accused, identified as 20-year-old Bibhuti Mohanty, entered the classroom where Muduli was teaching.

He then pulled out a heavy machete from the back of his trousers and started assaulting her, said eyewitnesses. The frightened students ran away immediately.

Muduli sustained deep cuts on the back of her head, back, arms and thigh. The teacher, who is married and has a young daughter, hails from Ambapara village where the school is situated, while Mohanty, an unemployed youth, hails from another village in the block, said sources.

Mohanty fled when the teacher collapsed. He ran to a nearby bus-stop and tried to board a vehicle, but residents of the area caught hold of him and handed him over to police.

“I feel devastated by what has happened with my wife. I wonder what the other teachers at the school were doing when this incident took place inside the classroom,” said Muduli’s husband, Soubhagya Mohapatra.

While it is yet to be ascertained what prompted Mohanty to attack Muduli, sources said it was the fallout of a one-sided love affair he had initiated.

(With inputs from Santosh Barik)