New Delhi: A group of 6 students belonging to the Scheduled Caste was forced to clean toilets in a government primary school in Erode district of Tamil Nadu. As the case unfolded, the headmistress absconded to avoid consequences.
The police have booked the headmistress under the Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act while, she has also been suspended by the administration.
Soon after the incident was discovered, parents staged a protest demanding arrest of the headmistress. They have also notified the Child Welfare Committee regarding the matter.
One of the parents took the matter to the Erode District Collector H Krishnanunni who asked the Education Department to take strict action immediately.
Following this, an enquiry was conducted in the matter and the accused headmistress was asked to appear before the administration for her actions several times but she continued to skip the meetings.
Meanwhile, a mother of one of the deceased kids filed the police complaint against the accused who is now absconded. The police have initiated efforts to nab her.
Kid contacted Dengue
In her complaint, she alleged that headmistress Githa desperately single out kids from the SC community to clean toilets.
The mother whose her son studying in class 4 had contacted dengue and fell ill. He was later admitted to Perundurai government hospital. After which, the son revealed about the inappropriate behaviour of the headmistress.
The child told her mother that he was bitten by a mosquito while handling bleaching powder and cleaning the toilet daily.
Asked to clean restrooms of teachers as well
As per The Hindu, there are 35 students in total from Class 1 to 5 who belong to the SC community. The children told their parents that every day at least two of the students had to clean restrooms and water tanks.
It was also alleged that there are two washrooms including one for the teachers and the kids of primary classes were forced to clean these toilets.
