New Delhi:

A school in the northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, where a school teacher allegedly encouraged students to slap a Muslim student, has been ordered to close pending an investigation against school officials.

Education officer Shubham Shukla said in a statement that a case has been registered against the school teacher and the matter is under investigation, adding that the recognition of the school will be withdrawn.

The incident, which took place in Muzaffarnagar’s Khubbapur village on Friday, sparked widespread outrage after a video went viral. The video shows the 7-year-old Muslim student standing in front of the classroom and several of his classmates come to slap him, which makes him cry.

The teacher, who is a Hindu, is heard saying: “What are you doing? Why aren’t you hitting him hard?”

Meanwhile, the police in Uttar Pradesh on Monday registered a case against Alt News co-founder and fact checker Mohammad Zubair for revealing the identity of the minor Muslim boy who slapped him.

Zubair shared the video of the incident on his X (formerly known as Twitter) account.

Read also: Indian teacher invites students to slap Muslim child sparks outrage

According to Zubair, the police took action only after the video went viral on social media platforms.

India’s apex child rights body, National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) asked people not to reveal the identity of the boy by sharing the video.

Later Zubair deleted the video.

Last year, Zubair was arrested by the Delhi Police on charges of hurting religious sentiments and promoting enmity. He is under constant attack by Hindutva groups for busting fake news and hate speeches by Hindu monks.

Zubair was the first person to bring to the notice of ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Nupur Sharma’s controversial remarks against Prophet Muhammad (PBUH). The issue turned into a major controversy and many Muslim countries expressed their displeasure over the derogatory remarks.