A group of students belonging to the Scheduled Class communities were allegedly forced to clean a septic tank used for human waste disposal at Morarji Desai Residential School in Yaluvahalli, Malur taluk, Kolar district of Karnataka.
The incident came to light after videos purportedly recorded by a teacher on a mobile phone went viral on social media. In the videos, students in classes 7 to 9 were seen entering and cleaning the septic tank under the supervision of the principal and a teacher.
The students shared their distress in the said video, describing harsh conditions at the school and alleging punishment, including kneeling outside the hostel at night and physical abuse.
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While school officials attempted to downplay the incident, claiming it was part of a cleanliness drive, a teacher, requesting anonymity, confirmed to the Hindustan Times that the pit contained excrement.
Parents of the students have expressed outrage as the incident unfolded.
What has the administration done so far?
The state administration responded swiftly, suspending the school's principal, Bharathamma, along with teachers Muniyappa and Abhishek, and hostel warden Manjunath.
Reportedly, the Karnataka social welfare minister, HC Mahadevappa, condemned the incident, stating, “A responsible organization can’t employ children for such work.” He ordered a detailed investigation by the department into the undated incident.
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Chief Minister Siddaramaiah has also sought a detailed report, promising stringent action against the culprits.
State legal services authority chairman Sunil Hosmani conducted an inspection, along with Naveen Kumar Raju, executive director of Karnataka Residential Education Institutions Society (KRIES), and R Srinivas, joint director of the social welfare department.
How did the BJP react?
The incident sparked a political row as the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) criticised the Congress-led state government over the "heinous incident" against Dalit students.
State BJP chief BY Vijayendra called for strict action against the culprits and demanded Minister Mahadevappa take moral responsibility and resign.
In a post on X, formerly known as Twitter, Vijayendra wrote, “It is an alarming development that people belonging to SC communities are being subjected to violence and exploitation. Malur incident where children were subjected to physical abuse by putting them in a pit of feces is a very heinous incident. The Karnataka BJP strongly condemns it…,”
