MAPUSA: One Sachin Shetye, the owner of a tropical spice plantation in Ponda was arrested on Tuesday for assaulting a student and a teacher on Saturday.

A case has been registered against the accused under Section 323 and 352 of IPC and Section 8 of the Goa’s Children’s Act.

According to one Gregory D’Souza, around 155 students of St Francis Xavier High School, Siolim, had gone on a field trip to Savoi Plantation on Saturday. Gregory D’Souza is the father of one of the students who had gone to the plantation.

During the field trip, the students were playing with the betel nut fallen on the ground. Falsely assuming that the students plucked betel nuts, the owner hit one of them. Seeing this, the teacher Devendre Prabhudesai, who is also the complainant, came to the aid of the student. However, the accused assaulted the teacher too. 

On reaching home one of the students narrated the incident at the farm to his parents.

Gregory D’Souza told Herald that the owner and his staff assaulted the students and teachers with fist blows and sticks. “If the students had misbehaved or damaged the plantation, the matter should have been reported to the teachers. The entry charges for the venue were fully paid by the school. How will the school ever take students for such educational exposure in the future?  This is a very shameful incident,” D’Souza said.

Ponda PI Harish Madkaikar said that a case was registered on Tuesday after the staff from the school complained that the owner of Savoi farm had slapped them. “According to the Goa’s Children’s Act it is a criminal offence” he said.