Kolar: School Principal arrested over charges of making students to clean soak pit

PTI, Dec 19, 2023, 8:33 AM IST

The principal of a school in Kolar district was arrested over a complaint of forcing some students to clean the soak pit in the school premises, officials said on Monday.

Kolar district-incharge Minister B S Suresh inspected the school today and spoke to the students and teachers to seek details.

Based on the complaint filed by the Joint Director of the Social Welfare Department, two separate FIRs were registered on Sunday. The first FIR was in connection with the soak pit incident in which the school principal was arrested, while the other one was related to the POCSO Act in which a teacher was arrested, officials said.

”The school principal was arrested since it was in her presence that some students were made to allegedly clean the soak pit. In another case, a male teacher was arrested in connection with a POCSO case booked against him,” a senior police officer said.

Following the arrests, three other employees of the school named in the FIR were found absconding.

According to officials, as per a preliminary inquiry, some students of Classes 8, 9 and 10 in Morarji Desai School at Yaluvahalli in Malur taluk were allegedly forced to clean a soak pit on the school premises on December 1.

However, the matter came to the notice of the Karnataka Residential Educational Institutions Society (KREIS) and other higher authorities only on Sunday after purported pictures and video of the incident were circulated through social media platforms.

KREIS Executive Director Naveen Kumar Raju told PTI that a probe committee has been formed for a detailed inquiry. This panel will visit the spot and submit a report within a week. Based on it, further action would be taken. Three staff members — principal, warden and an outsourced staff member who allegedly asked the students to perform the tasks — were suspended in connection with the soak pit incident.

Meanwhile, two male teachers have been suspended over allegations under the POCSO Act and corporal punishment, respectively, the officials said.

”We have suspended five of them and got two cases registered. One FIR has been booked under the Scheduled Caste and the Scheduled Tribe (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989 and the Prohibition of Employment as Manual Scavengers and their Rehabilitation Act for making students clean the pit.

”However, we have now been informed that the students were not made to clean the soak pit but they were actually made to remove the obstacles near the chamber behind the pit. However, our probe committee would be visiting the spot to conduct a detailed inquiry into the matter,” he said.

”Another case has been booked against the male teacher under the Protection of Children Against the Sexual Offences Act and the teacher concerned has also been arrested in connection with the incident that occurred on Thursday,” he said.

Noting that manual scavenging is a serious issue, Raju said, ”As soon as the matter came to our notice, we took all the measures to counter it. The entire system in the school will be changed now. New principal, teachers and wardens will be appointed. We have taken all the necessary measures to ensure that no such incident is repeated.” According to officials, during the preliminary inquiry, other allegations of ill-treatment of the students by the staff also surfaced.

In one such incident, a private video of a girl child was also taken by the male teacher and a case under the POCSO Act was booked against him. He was arrested as well as suspended in connection with the incident.

In another incident of corporal punishment in the same school, a male teacher allegedly forced some students to do hands-up and kneel down punishment with heavy bags on their backs. The teacher concerned has also been suspended by KREIS, the officials said.

Following the incident, on Monday, an outfit named Karnataka Bheem Sene staged a protest outside the residential school demanding strict action against the principal and staff.

A team of BJP leaders led by R Ashok, the leader of the opposition in the Karnataka Assembly, today visited the school, discussed the incident with the officials, teachers and students.

Ashok said that those who committed such acts should be punished and it should not be repeated in the future.

Kolar district-incharge Minister B S Suresh also inspected the school today spoke to the concerned officials and sought details about the action taken.

Later speaking to the media, he said both teaching and non-teaching staff of the school will be transferred. Police have been directed to nab three persons who were found absconding. A separate team has been formed, he said.

Once they are arrested, they will be subjected to investigation and action will be taken against them in accordance with law. By transferring everyone, it will send out a strong message, he added.