Kolkata: A teacher at an English-medium school was suspended and an FIR was registered against her for asking a student to wipe off a traditional sandalwood mark (chandan tilak), which the boy wore on his forehead, every day before entering the classroom, chief minister Suvendu Adhikari said on Friday.“The name of the school is Holy Mission English Medium School. A student used to come to the school wearing a chandan tilak. The teacher repeatedly tortured the child. The teacher used to ask the child to wash and wipe away the tilak before entering class. She has been suspended and an FIR registered against her,” the CM said.Adhikari spoke about it briefly during a Vidya Bharati event on Thusday, when he had referred to “a recent video” in which the student complained about the incident. “A student is seen complaining that a teacher made him remove the sandalwood mark from his forehead, telling him to wash his face and not come to class wearing it. This is the mindset! Whether someone wears a tilak or a tulsi bead—these are all part of our tradition and heritage,” Adhikari had said on Thursday.An official of the school said, “We have a disciplinary committee before which the teacher claimed it was a misunderstanding. The student came to school wearing a tilak, and the teacher asked him to remove it as the tilak was already smudged. The teacher has been suspended until the school managing committee takes a final decision after speaking to her and the family.”The official said this happened around 4 pm on Wednesday while a remedial class was on, ahead of dispersal.
