Boarders attempt to flee SSA school, probe ordered

By Our Staff Reporter

Guwahati, March 16: Nine boarders tried to flee a Sarba Siksha Abhiyan residential school at Lakhimpur, but an alert police patrol party spotted them and took them to the police station where they were handed over to the school authorities.

The Lakhimpur Deputy Commissioner has ordered a magisterial inquiry after it was alleged that the students tried to flee the school because they were “harassed” and “physically tortured” at the residential centre. The Residential Special Training Centre of SSA is located at Azadgar near Lakhimpur town. There are around 80 students of the district in the centre.

Police sources said nine boarders fled the school at 12 midnight.

“The students are in the age group 7-15. A police patrol party spotted them and took them to the police station. They were later handed over to the school authorities,” a police official said.

Speaking to reporters at the police station, the kids alleged that they were “harassed” at the training centre.

They alleged that they were made to clean toilets, not given proper food and made to live in a single congested room. “When we do not follow their (authorities) instruction, we are assaulted physically,” they said.

However, the school authority has denied the allegations and claimed that it was a self-training centre so all boarders have to take part in certain activities.

It may be mentioned that despite stringent laws and court directives, corporal punishment and ragging have been often reported from schools in Assam in the past.