An Open Letter To FR. T.P James

Dear Fr. T.P. James,

I am writing this letter to express, in the strongest possible terms, our deep anguish and outrage over the appalling physical assault suffered by our brother, Athonio Magh, a student of Class 10on the 20th of February 2025. The incident, which has left a young boy hospitalized and fighting for his life in the ICU. It is a heart-breaking reminder of the severe consequences of unchecked bullyingand administrative negligence.

I came across your letter on social media.While your letter dated April 4, 2025, outlines the steps taken by the school after the matter came to light, it is deeply disappointing, and unacceptable, that the school management appears to distance itself from the core of the problem by citing that the assault took place outside the school premisesand thereby awaiting on third party verdict to act upon.

Allow me to make it unequivocally clear:

The seeds of this horrific act of violence were sown inside the classrooms of Don Bosco Hr. Sec. School, within your very walls, under the supposed watch of your teachers and staff. Athonio Magh was being bullied and coerced for his tiffin,a practice that was apparently happening repeatedly within the school environment. It was inside your classrooms, during school hours, where his refusal to submit to this humiliation led to threats of retaliation. And when those threats materialized violently outside the gates, your institution cannot, in good conscience, wash its hands of responsibility.

This is not just an incident of school violence, it is a grave failure of your school’s duty of care, of basic supervision, and of timely intervention. Had the school authority addressed the In-school bullying with seriousness, monitored student behavior, and responded to warning signs, this heinous act could have been prevented.Today, a child is suffering in the ICU with life-threatening injuries, gastrointestinal perforation, peritonitis, and septic shock, because the system that should have protected him turned a blind eye.

We demand that the school take immediate and visible accountability for the environment it allowed to fester. It is your responsibility not just to secure the school compound, but to shape a culture where cruelty is not normalized and silence is not the price of survival. “Outside the school campus” is not an excuse when the trigger was pulled inside.

Let this letter serve as a public call for justice and institutional reform.The least we expect is an apology issued to the victim and his family, swift disciplinaryaction against the perpetrators at the earliest, and the implementation of strict anti-bullying, anti-ragging measures and counselling services to prevent such horrific events from recurring.

Anything less would be a disgrace to the values your institution claims to uphold. Let this tragedy awaken a lasting change not just in policies but in heart and spirit.

Aga Rengma
Advisor
Dimapur Rengma Youth Organisation