Anger spilled on to the streets on Friday a day after the alleged sexual abuse of a six-year-old student in a private school in Jeevanbimanagar came to light. The class 1 student was allegedly sexually abused by a high school Hindi teacher.
The school, which was closed on Friday, is likely to remain closed till Wednesday. With members of the management turning incommunicado, parents demanded a meeting with them before sending their children back to school.
Angry and anxious parents turned emotional as they awaited clarity on the incident. A mother, whose daughter is in LKG in the school, broke down saying, “Where will we shift our daughter to? Which school is safe?”
Another parent whose two children study in the school said they would feel safe sending their children back to the school only after “severe punishment” is meted out to the perpetrator.
City Police Commissioner M.N. Reddi and C.V. Raman Nagar MLA S. Raghu, who met a few parents on Friday afternoon, promised a meeting with the management will be convened on Monday. The school will remain closed till then as Saturday and Tuesday are public holidays on account of Karnataka Rajyotsava and Muharram respectively.
Block Education Officer (BEO) - South 4 S.M. Ramesh said the last contact he had made with a management representative was at 8.43 p.m. on Thursday. The phone of the owner of the school has been switched off since then, he added.
After inspecting the school, he said there were 33 rooms, 39 staff members, eight toilets and only four CCTV cameras, when it actually requires at least 25 CCTV cameras. “Established in 1979, the school offers English-medium education from class 1 to 10,” he added.
School management responds Meanwhile, the school management, in a release on Friday evening, said they did not appear before the media as the “matter is sub judice and the environment hostile.”
“We have been in constant touch with the officials concerned and are cooperating with the authorities by disseminating the required and relevant information,” the release added.
Neighbouring school affected
An educational institution adjacent to the Jeevanbimanagar school, where a six-year-old girl was sexually abused, called off the classes in the morning itself. Students were sent back home as there was chaos in the locality following protests by supporters of the Bharatiya Janata Party against the rape of a school girl. The protesters were demanding justice for the victim. While the private school, where the crime took place, declared a holiday on Friday “due to unavoidable circumstances”, the school adjacent to it only held 8 a.m. special classes for class 10 students before calling off all other classes.
