Urine shame makes Viswa Bharti say sorry

Under fire over the urine incident, the Visva Bharati University on Thursday apologised and assured that such incidents won’t reoccur in future.

Zeenews Bureau

Kolkata: Under fire over the incident involving a fifth class girl student who was allegedly forced to drink her urine in a school in Shantiniketan, the Visva Bharati University on Thursday apologised and assured that such incidents won’t reoccur in future.

The incident had triggered a public outcry. Uma Poddar, the warden of Karabi Girls` Hostel of the Patha Bhavan School under the Visva-Bharati University, was arrested and suspended for forcing the 10-year-old girl to drink her own urine for bed-wetting. She was granted bail later.

Taking a serious note of the incident, the prestigious institution said that the matron-warden system prevalent in the hostels run by it will be overhauled.

Yesterday, the registrar of the Visva-Bharati University and the principal of Patha Bhavan had visited the house of the traumatized girl at Makrampur on the outskirts of Bolpur town in Birbhum district and requested her parents that she be allowed to resume her classes.

Manoj Mistry, the father of the girl, said he broke down when the registrar asked them how they were. "They told me to send my daughter again to Patha Bhavan and promised that they would be vigilant in future so that such incident is not repeated. But my daughter is unwilling to go to that school again and I cannot go against her wish," Mistry said.

Considering the sensitiveness of the issue, the university also agreed to allow the girl to pursue her studies as a day boarder.

The shocking incident has sparked an outrage with the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights slapping a notice on the West Bengal government asking it to investigate the matter and submit a report within 10 days.

The HRD ministry has submitted a report to the Prime Minister`s Office as the Visva Bharati University is a central varsity whose chancellor is the Prime Minister.

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