BENGALURU: The headmistress of a BBMP school in Lakkasandra has been suspended for allegedly harassing schoolchildren mentally and physically.The accused, Sulochana, has been suspended by the BBMP commissioner as the prima facie of the allegations were proved. Following the complaint filed by child rights activists and Child helpline authorities, the commissioner has initiated action.
According to the complaint, she used to ask the students to do her household work and beat those who denied doing it. She is also accused of exploiting them mentally and physically by asking them to massage her legs during school hours.Following the complaints filed with Childline, the authorities even conducted a counselling session for the children studying in that school to know what exactly they were going through. "We have taken a video recording of the headmistress exploiting the students. Before filing a complaint, our team visited and verified the situation. After confirming, we even conducted a counselling session for the students where it was revealed that she even assaulted them physically. As told by the students, she used to undress them and take photos in her mobile," said another child rights activist working with Childline.
"We have taken up the issue based on the complaint registered with child line few weeks ago. Following the repeated calls, we sent a team to visit the school to verify the issue. During the team visit, it was found that the headmistress was not just exploiting the students, but also making the high school students look after her grand children," explained Nagasimha G Rao, a child rights activist.
"It was revealed that the students used to wash her dishes, do mopping, spread her clothes for drying and sometimes even helped her with cooking. It is not just a case of corporal punishment, this is a clear violation of child rights and she should be punished for it," said Nagasimha G Rao.Meanwhile, the BBMP officials said that an inquiry will be conducted and based on the report, action will be initiated against Sulochana.