Teachers clash during meeting at Kerala school; One held

Seven teachers were injured during a scuffle at a school’s staff council meeting in this North Kerala district. The husband of one faculty member, who is also a teacher at a different school, has been arrested in connection with the incident, police said here on Thursday.

The incident, which occurred earlier this week, gained public attention when a purported video showing teachers fighting went viral on social media.

As the issue brought shame to the fraternity, a departmental inquiry was also ordered into the incident, official sources said.

The incident happened at Eravannur AUP School, at nearby Narikkuni.

According to police, an argument over a student’s complaint, which was forwarded to Childline by a teacher in the school, had resulted in the clash.

The quarrel began when the husband of the woman teacher, who had reportedly forwarded the complaint, came to the institution to pick her up. When he saw other teachers blaming her over the incident in the staff council meeting, M P Shaji, who is a teacher at a different school, started arguing with them, which resulted in the clash.

Based on a complaint from the school authorities, Shaji was arrested on Wednesday, a police officer said.

He was arrested under IPC Section 332 (voluntarily causing hurt to deter a public servant from his duty), 506 (criminal intimidation), and 294b (uttering any obscene words), the police official said.

The accused was produced before a local court here on Wednesday.