The recent sexual harassment allegations against the teacher of a sought-after school in Chennai, not just shook the city of Chennai. It shook the nation and sent shivers down the spine of every parent with a school-going child.
We know big cities, highways and even small-town streets are not very safe for girls and children. But a school? That's where they go to grow, play and learn. Suddenly, everyone found themselves repeating the dreadful words -- sought-after or private school. And going through the scary thought, "If this could allegedly happen at a top private school, wonder what must be the state of affairs in other institutions," said one.
The issue runs deeper
Less than 24 hours after Chennai's sought-after school PSBB found itself under the storm over sexual harassment charges against one of its teachers, another set of allegations appeared.
Model Kripali Samdariya, an alumna of the PSBB, has been amplifying the issue by assisting students with sharing their horrid experiences on a wider platform.
Her Instagram story highlights a flood of similar narratives when naïve students across age groups and gender were led into uncomfortable situations. As it turns out, it's not a story of one school or one abuser but many schools and many such predators.
The incident that triggered it all
Students of Chennai institution Padma Seshadri Bala Bhavan School (PSBB) in KK Nagar, have raised allegations of indecent behaviour and sexual advances in the classroom. Screenshots evidencing harassment and inappropriate messages by a male teacher, a professor of commerce, have been doing the rounds on social media. Ever since, the allegations led to a torrent of outrage on social media. The clamour for action against the school and the professor has grown by every minute.
From him walking into an online class inappropriately dressed to sending suggestive texts to girl students, the allegations involving the teacher G Rajagopalan left many disturbed to say the least.
In what is being largely seen as a damage-control exercise, the alumni association of the school has submitted a statement to the management to suspend the teacher, till a thorough investigation is conducted in the matter.
While the school management has suspended the teacher, DMK MP Kanimozhi tweeted stating, "The sexual harassment allegations against a commerce teacher in PSBB School, Chennai has been shocking. An inquiry should be conducted and action must be taken against those who are involved including school authorities who failed to act against the complaints from students...I promise to take this to the concerned authorities."
Teacher arrested under POCSO Act
Meanwhile, the Ashok Nagar All Women Police arrested the teacher in Chennai on Monday midnight, and a magistrate remanded him to judicial custody. He has been arrested under Sections 11, 12 of Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act (POCSO) and Section 67 and 67 (a) of the IT Act.
What PSBB says
The school authorities in a statement, signed by PSBBKKN Principal Geetha Govindrajan and Dean of PSBB group of schools, Sheela Rajendra, said that such incidents have not been brought to them and denied any knowledge of the issue. The statement said that the school is taking, "suo moto cognizance of the case and will take necessary steps to address the situation in a free, fair and transparent manner." However, the social media narratives by the students tell a different story.
Child abuse and education
According to a 2017 study by the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR), about 53 per cent of kids surveyed reported having faced one or the other form of sexual abuse. As per one study by the Delhi Commission for Protection of Child Rights in collaboration with Human Development Society, the impact of sexual abuse on school-going children delves deeper.
The 2019 study further suggested that one out of every three children who are subjected to sexual abuse in Delhi, eventually drop out of school. While 9 per cent of the abused minors go back to education, 33 per cent of them opt out of schools.
