NAROWAL, Feb 20: The district administration has ordered a probe into the conduct of a female teacher who allegedly blackened the faces of three students and sent them back to their homes in the same condition at Bola Bajwa village.

The class four students had reportedly refused to do household chores at the teacher’s residence.

Reports said the sole teacher of the Government Girls Community Model School, Bola Bajwa, Narowal tehsil, Anwar Fatima, used to force the schoolgirls to do household chores at her residence in the village. The students, Naila Arshad, Hina and Sabiha refused to obey their teacher’s unlawful and unethical command.

The students’ refusal infuriated the teacher who is also reputed to be ill-tempered. She first thrashed them and then got the faces of all the three girls blackened, forcing them to take a round of all classes. To further satiate her sadist whims, the teacher sent the girls back to their homes through village streets with blackened faces.

Parents, rights activists and residents of the village have expressed their grave concern over the incident.

When parents of the victim girls protested against the humiliating conduct of the teacher, she abused them too and asked them to leave the school premises.

Muhammad Arshad, father of a victim, Naila, told Dawn that his daughter and the other girls had refused to go to school for fear of being further humiliated. He said they had filed a complaint against the teacher with the education department officers but they showed no interest in taking action against the teacher.

Meanwhile, village numbardar Muhammad Abbas said Anwar Fatima, who had connections in the education department, had also become a nuisance for other schoolteachers who get posted at the village. No teacher stayed at the school for long because of her bad temper, he added.

Many village residents said that despite lodging various complaints against the teacher’s conduct the authorities concerned had taken no action against her.

They said there was no other government or private school for girls in the village where they could send their daughters for education.

A rights activist K M Baig demanded the teacher who humiliate students must be removed from the department. However, Ms Fatima said some village residents wanted to get her removed from the school, who kept lodging complaints against her. She said as the students were disobedient, she had to do ‘such things’ for their betterment.

District Coordination Officer Tahir Yousaf said he had ordered a probe through an administrative officer into the incident. He said if the charges against the teacher were proved she would be removed from service.