Eight months on, sexually abused minor girl awaiting justice?

It came as quite a shock to the parents of a class XII student when they found pornographic contents on their daughter’s phone in July, 2020.
Express Illustrations
Express Illustrations

MADURAI: It came as quite a shock to the parents of a Class XII student when they found pornographic contents on their daughter’s phone in July, 2020. On further enquiry they learnt that her English teacher had shared such content with her in the guise of conducting an online class. It has almost been almost eight months now but the perpetrator has neither been arrested nor been booked under the POCSO Act.

When TNIE probed further, it found that there has been no police complaint filed by the school or by corporation officials, which is mandatory in such cases of sexual assault and sexual harassment (Section 7 and 11(iii) of the POCSO Act). The issue was not even brought to the knowledge of the Child Welfare Committee by the authorities concerned.

The suspect, last year, had reportedly created a WhatsApp group with a few girl students, before the Board exams, to allegedly share pornographic content during the lockdown. The teacher had also taken the minor girl to a secluded place and sexually assaulted her on multiple occasions, the girl told her parents. Following this, the parents filed a complaint with the school headmaster. The issue was taken up by the CEO of corporation schools, after which an inquiry was initiated.

Shortly after, the teacher was transferred to another corporation school. Soon after taking charge in the new school, the suspect was suspended. Meanwhile, the Headmaster of Vellividiyar Corporation Girls Higher Secondary School, M Ayyar confirmed the same. When TNIE contacted Chief Educational Officer of Corporation Schools P Vijaya on why the issue was not brought to the knowledge of Child Welfare Committee, she repeated what was said about the inquiry and refused to answer any further question.

Meanwhile, Madurai Corporation Commissioner S Visakan had something similar to say, but added that the inquiry report has not yet been submitted. He also said that the girl student and her parents have not appeared for the inquiry and that only the suspect was present. Hence, the committee could not submit its final report. However, court guidelines have stated that in POCSO Act cases, the victim should not be questioned or brought face to face with the abuser/perpetrator.

However, the head of the internal committee (Corporation’s Vishakha Committee) Suganthi told TNIE that so far three sittings of inquiry was conducted with the victim, parents and the accused. A close associate of the victim’s family, however, had a different story to tell. The associate had made a complaint to the Chief Minister’s public Grievance Cell citing the dormant attitude of Corporation officials and sought action. While TNIE is trying to access the documents related to the incident, top officials from the Corporation asked the reporter to refrain from writing about the issue.

Speaking on the incident, All India Democratic Women’s Association (AIDWA) State Secretary S K Ponnuthai said that Corporation inquiry alone is not enough. “It is necessary to launch a police complaint under POCSO Act and check whether other students were also victims of sexual harassment. The students’ identity should not be disclosed during the inquiry,” she added. Advocate Saji Chellan said, “Whenever such a complaint arises, it is mandatory for the authorities of the school to forward the complaint to the police directly. There is no need to form an internal complaints committee.” “In this case, the suspect has to be booked under POCSO Act as well as Juvenile Justice Act before suspending him. Both the departmental and police inquiries should be conducted simultaneously. Either the parent of the student or the CEO or the headmaster should have lodged a police complaint against the suspect,” he said.

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