COIMBATORE: Over 300 alumni and parents of a private matriculation school in Senguttaipalayam near Pollachi submitted a petition at the sub-collector's office on Saturday, urging withdrawal of a case filed against school authorities under the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, and alleged that it was wrongly invoked against them.
Notably, school authorities including the correspondent, principal and office staff were booked on Thursday evening, after a Class 8 Dalit girl student was made to sit outside her classroom on a stairway and write the annual examination as she was allegedly menstruating.
The petitioners told media persons at the sub-collector office that as per the parents' request, school authorities allowed the girl student to write the exam separately. However, the parents later blamed the school authorities for the same.
In the petition, the parents stated that the private school has been offering quality education to students of surrounding villages and was charging a reasonable fee for over 30 years. A person belonging to a particular organization tried to create an image that school authorities function on the basis of caste, they alleged in the petition.
A person had threatened that they would use the SC/ST Act, and collected money. Hence, the police department should conduct an inquiry and take appropriate action. The cases filed under the act should be withdrawn, the petition stated.