In a shocking incident, 24 girl students of the Government Model Senior Secondary School, Rajgarh, Sirmaur district, have accused their TGT mathematics teacher of sexual harassment.
In a complaint submitted to school Principal Kanta Devi, the aggrieved students have accused the teacher of touching them inappropriately.
The police have arrested teacher and registered an FIR against him under Section 75 of the BNS and Section 10 of the POCSO Act.
“The girls submitted a written complaint on Friday, in which they accused the teacher of “bad touch” and misbehaviour.
The complaint was duly forwarded to the anti-sexual committee of the school. The girls have been counselled by committee members,” the Principal said
“Besides, parents of the aggrieved girls were called to the school for a meeting on the very next day,” the Principal said. The girls are Class VIII to Class X students.
Incidentally, most parents were not aware of the reason behind the sudden meeting until they arrived at the school.
The aggrieved girls had not told their parents about the trauma and harassment they had been undergoing at the hands of the accused teacher due to “fear and hesitation”.
“When I reached school for meeting, my daughter started crying. It was then that I realised what had actually happened,” said father of one of the aggrieved students in a choked voice.
A mother of another student said the incident had completely broken her daughter, a Class X student. “I was totally devastated when my daughter told me about obscene acts of the teacher.
Is this how a teacher should behave?” she said while trying to hold back her tears. “The teacher should be dismissed from job so that he doesn’t victimise other girls in the school,” parents said.
The agitated parents and local people also accused the school management of trying to play down the issue and not acting on time.
The Principal, however, said the management was not aware since when the teacher had been harassing girls.
“There has been no complaint against the teacher in the past. But when the girls submitted a written complaint, we took immediate action,” the Principal said.
Meanwhile, teachers have sought strict punishment for the accused. “If the accused is found guilty, he should be given severe punishment.
He has brought shame to the entire teaching community,” said Surender Pundir, an officiating Principal in Sirmaur district.
