15-Year-Old Deaf Student Assaulted in Odisha School; Attendant Arrested
A Deaf student in Odisha was brutally assaulted by a mess attendant, leading to the arrest of the accused and suspension of the school headmaster.
A shocking case of abuse of a Deaf child has been reported in Odisha. On 25 November 2025, police arrested an attendant and suspended the headmaster of the Helen Keller Red Cross School for the Deaf in Ganjam district. The school is supported by a government grant-in-aid and run by the Ganjam District Red Cross Society.
The action was taken after a 15-year-old Deaf student was allegedly brutally assaulted. The student was staying in a private rented mess near the school along with other Deaf students. On 20 November, the student tried to throw away the cooked food served to him. After this, the attendant, Girishraj Rout, who managed the mess, allegedly beat the boy with a broom and forced him to eat the food.
Some senior students secretly recorded the incident on a mobile phone and uploaded the video on YouTube. The video went viral and caused widespread outrage on social media. The Chief Minister’s Office alerted the Department of Social Security and Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities (SSEPD), leading the district administration to intervene.
An officer visited the mess on 22 November and confirmed the assault. On 24 November, in-charge officer Swabhiman Sahu took the victim to the police station and filed a formal complaint against the attendant and the school headmaster, Bauribandhu Nayak.
Police later found that the attendant had illegally housed 14 Deaf students in a rented accommodation without permission, which violated disability welfare norms. Rout was arrested, and the headmaster was suspended. The incident has raised serious concerns about the safety and monitoring of Deaf and disabled students in private and residential setups.
