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AHMEDABAD: A Class 6 student of Don Bosco English School at Vejalpur was allegedly forced to drink his urine by the principal after the student was found urinating in a plastic bottle in the classroom. The student’s parents and those of other students were incensed on learning of the incident. The matter had reached the Vejalpur police station but the parents agreed to a compromise after the principal apologized for her mistake and resigned.

 The incident took place on Friday when the 11-year-old boy was allegedly caught urinating in a plastic bottle in an empty classroom. He was then taken by a peon to the primary school principal, Gracie Joseph. The boy later claimed that he was punished by Joseph who forced him to drink his own urine.

 The student said that after the fourth period, he had gone down to the ground floor but there was a long queue at the urinal.

 "I also noticed that I had left behind my snack-box in my classroom on the first floor where there is no urinal. I rushed back to my classroom where I felt an urgent need to pee. I decided to do pee in a plastic bottle which I had with me. But a peon saw me and reported the matter to the principal who forced me to drink the urine," the boy said.

 Joseph, however, denied all charges. She said that she had called the student’s class teacher and spoken to him in the presence of other members of staff. No such incident ever took place," she said.

 K I Modi, inspector of Vejalpur police station, said the parents and the principal had come to Vejalpur police station but no complaint was registered. "The parents have given an application saying they don’t want to file a complaint in the case. Both the parties gave us a letter about a compromise that they had reached on the issue. As part of the compromise, the principal has quit from her post," the police inspector said.

’Insensitive administration’

 The harshness of the punishment shook the parents who gathered on the campus in large numbers on Saturday. "There are only a few lavatories in the school and none on the first floor where my nephew’s classroom is situated. The principal and the school administration are infamous because of Gracie Joseph’s strict nature," alleged the boy’s uncle.

 The student’s mother said that when her son reached home from school on Friday, he first told his sister about the incident. "The fact is that the principal knew that the bottle contained his urine and also that he had to use the bottle because of lack of facilities in the school. Yet she punished him so severely. My son was feeling unwell when he returned home," the mother said.

 Hiren Mistry, father of a Class 4 student, said his daughter studies in the same school.

 "She and other students often complain about the harsh punishments meted out to students. Students are punished by being forced to stand in the blazing sun and sometimes by tying their ties to a collapsible gate in the school building’s lobby. Students are also not allowed to drink from the water tank used by teachers. They are pulled up even for wearing woollen caps during winter," alleged Mistry.

 Bhavini Mehta, mother of a class 6 student, said her daughter had complained to her that she was not allowed to go to the bathroom even when she was having her monthlies. "Other girls who are of her age face the same problem regularly because the school administration refuses permission to use the washroom," said Mehta.