KOLKATA: A teacher of a prominent private English-medium school in the city allegedly sexually abused a Class 2 student, and was arrested today, police said.
The development triggered angry protests by the girl's parents and other guardians, who gathered outside Carmel Primary School this morning, seeking immediate suspension and action against the accused.
A senior police official said the parents of the Class 2 student have alleged that their daughter was abused by the dance teacher of the school, in the southern part of the city.
Yesterday, the girl complained about the teacher to her parents, he said.
Expressing his outrage over the matter, West Bengal Education Minister Partha Chatterjee said if the charge against the accused teacher is found to be true, he should not be allowed to teach again.
"I am of the view that male teachers should not be appointed in all-girls' school," he said.
The government had asked all schools to implement foolproof security measures on their campuses, but today's incident showed there were gaps in the system, he added.
One of the agitating parents told reporters outside the school gate that authorities tried to downplay the matter initially when they were informed about it.
"It was then we decided to stage a protest outside the school," he said.
The principal of the missionary school, Sister Maria Arpitha AC, has sought time till tomorrow to speak on the matter.
A police team that reached the spot to control the agitators was also heckled by the parents, the senior officer said.
"We have arrested the teacher and initiated an investigation into the matter," he said, adding the agitators assaulted the accused when he was being taken away.
West Bengal State Commission for Protection of Child Rights chairperson Ananya Chatterjee Chakraborti said two members of the statutory body have reached the school to take stock of the situation.
One of the two visiting members of the commission, Sudeshna Roy, said, "We were told by the school that the CCTVs in the school are not in working condition and some construction work is going on in one part of the campus. We will file our report and necessary actions will be taken."
The incident brought back memories of a similar case in December last year, where a four-year-old girl student of G D Birla Centre for Education was allegedly sexually assaulted by two teachers inside the school. Both the teachers were arrested.