Playschool teacher booked for cruelty against boy gets interim bail following volte-face by child’s mother

The Mattancherry police who booked the teacher of a playschool for alleged cruelty against a three-year-old boy on his mother’s complaint was in for a rude jolt when the petitioner deposed before the magistrate that she did not want to pursue the complaint.

Following this, the accused, who would have otherwise got remanded, was granted interim bail with a direction to appear before the magistrate on Monday, the police said. The police were asked to submit a report and a wound certificate.

The police booked a 36-year-old teacher at a playschool in Mattancherry on Thursday after the boy’s mother lodged a petition on Wednesday. The accused was booked under the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015, Section 75 (cruelty to children) and the relevant Sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita for voluntarily causing hurt by dangerous means or weapons.

According to the police, the mother of the child has been dilly-dallying from the very beginning. “She seems to have decided against pursuing the case on being approached by the accused. However, the fact is that the child has injury marks from suspected beating using possibly a stick,” said the police.

According to the original complaint, the child had been reluctant to go to the playschool for a month and had marks of suspected beatings even in the past. The complaint was lodged when similar marks appeared on the child’s body again on Wednesday, the petition said. Following this, the accused was arrested and booked on Thursday.