Math Teacher Allegedly Tied To Tree, Thrashed By Students For Giving Poor Marks on Exam

Many a student has harbored a teacher-revenge fantasy, and that scenario has powered many a Hollywood film. But in India, things went a little bit too far recently: Local authorities say that a math teacher was tied to a tree and beaten by students who were angry about getting failing grades on a final exam, NDTV reported on Wednesday. Read on to find out what happened and to see video of the incident.

1
One-Third of Class Failed

On Tuesday, police said the math teacher and a clerk of a boarding school in the Dumka district were tied to a tree and beaten after the teacher gave failing grades to almost a third of students taking the Class 9 practical examination. Eleven students out of 32 were given grade “DD,” equivalent to failing, the Jharkhand Academic Council said on Saturday.

2
Image of Rampaging Students Posted

The Hindustan Times reported that pictures posted online showed a man tied to a tree with red rope, surrounded by “a group of agitated students in school uniform, with one of them holding a stick and another recording the video of the incident.” A minute-long video was also posted to YouTube, in which a student is heard shouting, “I want to make this video viral…these people were only involved, the public should know.” Keep reading to see the video.

3
Victims Didn’t Press Charges

Curiously, neither the teacher nor the clerk (identified by police as Suman Kumar and Soneram Chaure, respectively) pressed charges. “School management did not give any written complaint about the incident,” police officer Nityanand Bhokta told Press Trust of India. “After verification of the incident, I asked the school authority to file a complaint, but it refused saying that if might spoil the careers of the students.”

4
“Majority” Of Students Reportedly Involved

Deepesh Joshi/YouTube
Local official Anant Jha said about 200 students were enrolled in the school and the “majority of the students” were involved in the incident, NDTV reported. “The victim teacher was earlier headmaster of the school but later he was removed for reasons not known. It might be a case of rivalry among teachers,” said Jha. “To maintain law and order of the school, classes for class 9 and class 10 have been suspended for two days and students were sent back to their homes.”

5
Or Was It Just Gossip?

Local media reported that students believed the teacher gave them failing grades and went after him and the clerk, who uploaded results to the local academic council’s website. But the whole thing might be a misunderstanding. “The school management, however, failed to show the marks of practical examinations and date on which the marks were uploaded online,” said Jha. “It is still not clear whether the students failed in theory paper or practical. Prima facie it seems, the students took the action only on a rumor.”