COIMBATORE: Days after two minor boys, brothers, studying in a Kendriya Vidyalaya here were pulled up by the school authorities for allegedly filming girl students on their mobile phones, their parents have slapped sexual assault charges on the school principal and three women teachers.
The elder brother, studying in Class XI, has complained that he and his sibling were sexually harassed under the guise of being frisked. The teachers, he said in the complaint, held them down while the principal searched them for the mobile phone.
The boys also claimed that the act was filmed, and the teachers threatened to upload the video online if they complained.
Interestingly, while the police have booked the teachers for sexual assault for conducting a pat-down search, the boys have not been booked under relevant sections for filming girl students without their permission or knowledge. Police say the siblings have been booked under Sections 353 (Assault or criminal force to deter public servant from discharge of his duty) and 447 (Punishment for criminal trespass) of the Indian Penal Code.
Meanwhile, around 300 students and a few parents staged a sit-in protest at the school campus on Monday, in support of the arrested teachers. Students boycotted their classes and staged a protest until the police arrived and held talks.
What teachers say
Teachers say the older one of the siblings was caught using his mobile phone inside the class last Thursday.Later, girls started complaining that he had been using the phone to film them. The phone was seized. The school management formed a committee, which decided to suspend the boy. Though the police were notified, no case was filed then.
“Since the boy’s father is an Air Force official, we decided to inform him,” said the school principal.
“The parents, however, were angry when they were informed. The father came to my home the same night, at 11 pm, and picked an argument. He also damaged my door,” alleged the principal. “Now, they are trying to turn the issue against the school.”Sources say that in January this year, the boys had filed a similar complaint against the school principal and a few teachers.
According to the boys, they were detained at the principal's office from 12.30 pm to 5 pm on the day they were found carrying the phone. The same day, the boys were admitted to the Coimbatore Medical College Hospital (CMCH), claiming they were beaten up by the teachers. As soon as they were discharged, they approached the police superintendent to file a complaint. The four teachers were booked under POCSO Act on Monday, and the process is on to arrest them, said a police official.
Sources say in January this year, the boys had filed a similar complaint against the principal and a few teachers. Speaking to the media earlier from the hospital, the boys' mother had alleged that the principal had 'failed her son and refused to release his results'.
"When I went to the school to talk to the principal, the authorities called the police on us," she alleged. "They have been torturing my children, physically and mentally, since then." The mother also said that the school authorities had confiscated a phone from her son in February this year, which was not returned.
HarasSment under guise of frisking?
The two boys, both brothers, were pulled up by the teachers a few days ago for allegedly filming girls on their mobile phone during class hour. Parents of the boys have complained that the principal and teachers had sexually harassed the boys under the guise of frisking.