Intelligentsia condemns Viswa-Bharati incident

Members of West Bengal's intelligentsia Monday condemned the shameful incident in a school in Viswa Bharati, founded by Nobel laureate Rabindranath Tagore, where a class 5 girl student was allegedly made to drink her own urine for bedwetting. Leading writers and actors condemned the incident and demanded exemplary punishment for the guilty. "It is a shame for all of us. I cannot even imagine that such kind of incident can take place in Viswa-Bharati. I myself have been a student of Viswa-Bharati. I condemn it. Whoever is responsible for the incident should be punished," said Magsaysay Award winning writer Mahasweta Devi. The case, took a curious turn Monday with the warden and the girl's parents being arrested but later released on bail. The court, however, while granting bail to all the accused, condemned the incident and censured police for booking the warden under bailable offences. "This is really a horrific incident. From next time, parents will think twice before sending their kids to hostel," said writer Sirshendu Mukhopadhayay said. However, he said Viswa-Bharati should not be maligned for such an incident. "This incident is horrible, but not an isolated incident. Because going by the culture of intolerance and impatience, such incidents will go up in near future," said actor Kaushik Sen.