CHENNAI: Just as the #MeToo wave appeared to be ebbing in India, youngsters in Tamil Nadu drew focus to the prevalence of sexual violence committed by teachers and other authority figures at educational institutions, especially at schools.
In May 2021, students and alumni of several prominent Chennai schools started calling out teachers for sexual misconduct, with formal complaints soon leading to a commerce teacher named G Rajagopalan from the PSBB school in the city being arrested in June. The complaints have since moved beyond social media to streets with students in Coimbatore recently publicly demanding arrest of a teacher for alleged sexual harassment.
The Genesis
It was the PSBB incident that opened the floodgates after an alumnus of the school, Kripali, collated and shared screenshots of students saying they were sexually harassed by Rajagopalan. One screenshot showed the teacher attending online lessons topless with only a cloth around his neck. The screenshots went viral, drawing the attention of politicians and the public. City police too responded swiftly.
Domino effect
Police complaints were filed against teachers from other city schools, including St George’s Anglo Indian Higher Secondary School, Chettinad Vidyashram, Kendriya Vidyalaya- CLRI and Maharishi Vidya Mandir. A senior police officer, at the time said, hundreds of women had called the DCP with complaints of sexual violence. In ensuing days, I Kebiraj, a 41-year-old martial arts trainer, accused of sexually harassing a student seven years ago, was arrested. In her complaint, the survivor said the arrest of Rajagopalan had given her courage to come forward.
P Nagarajan, 59, an athletic coach too was arrested after complaints of him inappropriately touching girls while administering physiotherapy, reached police and they persuaded survivors to register official complaints.
Police received hundreds of complaints against self-proclaimed godman, Siva Sankar Baba, who founded the Sushil Hari International Residential School. He fled the city and was arrested from Delhi.
Falling short, tragically
Yet, many schools failed to act sensitively, some opting to silence the victim. In one instance, a 17-year-old girl student in Coimbatore died by suicide on November 11 allegedly due to sexual harassment by a teacher.
The school’s principal had been informed of the issue, but she allegedly failed to take action. It is only after the child died that the issue reached Coimbatore police. Even on Friday, 100 students from a Kovai government school took the streets demanding action against a computer-science teacher for alleged sexual misconduct. The students said the school management had ignored their complaints.
Empowering youth
The state government has provided guidelines to schools on handling complaints of sexual harassment from students, including in the context of online lessons and awareness campaigns are being conducted at every level. Yet, gaps remain, evidenced by the number of students dying by suicide citing sexual harassment.
10-year-old raped near school, two held
VIRUDHUNAGAR: Two persons were arrested by Rajapalayam All Women Police for allegedly raping a 10-year-old girl near her school. Police said the child had gone to school on Thursday morning and when she returned home, she was unusually quiet. She neither went to school nor went outside to play the next day, and her mother also saw a bite injury on her daughter’s face and informed her husband. After repeated questions, the girl stated that she was kidnapped and raped on Thursday afternoon, when she went to dispose off her napkins in a dustbin near school. Two persons had tied her up and raped her, police said. They were identified as K Sivakumar (47) and S Venkateshbabu (40); both were arrested
Teacher booked under POCSO act
DINDIGUL: A 56-year-old government middle school teacher in Ayakudi near Palani, Syed Ahmed Rabi, was arrested under POCSO Act following a complaint filed by students. According to sources, the students reported to the school head earlier this week that Syed was allegedly talking to them in an inappropriate manner and sexually abusing them. Block educational officials conducted an enquiry and found the allegations to be true. The school teacher was later arrested.