Teachers lock up girl in Odisha school

Odisha Channel Bureau Jagatsinghpur, July 26: In a glaring slip-up, teachers of a government-run upper primary school in Odisha’s Jagatsinghpur district locked up the school building leaving a nine-year-old girl student all alone in one of the classrooms.With the girl not returning home, parents and guardians looked over carefully across the village and were jolted to trace her inside the locked up school. The shocking incident that occurred in Raghunathjew upper primary school in Khambakula village under Balikuda police station jurisdiction on Friday has sparked tension in the sleepy village even as villagers rescued the girl from the locked up room after two hours of frantic search.“We desperately searched for her as she did not return home after school closure.Finally we could locate her in the locked up school after hearing her cries,” said Saroj Das, father of the victim Class-III student Shradhanjali Das.Agitated locals later locked up the school building and demanded stern action against the guilty teachers.When contacted, Balikuda Block Education Officer Bijaylaxmi Dash said Saturday that “a team of officials led by Deputy Block Education Officer have inspected the school to investigate the incident.“The inquiring team found veracity of the incident.Disciplinary action would be initiated against the negligent teachers when the school reopens on Monday,” said Dash.