Teacher strips girl in co-education classroom

KOLKATA: A teacher of a co-ed government school in Gaighata in North 24-Parganas took off the leggings of a 13-year-old girl in the classroom on Wednesday because she was not in proper uniform. The girl wept and pleaded but the teacher allegedly did not return it even after school was over, forcing her to walk home in a semi-clad state.

Headmaster Swapan Bala dismissed it as a “minor incident”. “We came to know of it only a day later. It is not a serious matter. Some people are unnecessarily making an issue out of it. The teacher has apologized. We shall take a final decision on Friday,” Bala said on Thursday.

The accused teacher was allowed to get away by submitting a written apology to the managing committee of the school. And the girl’s father was made to submit another document to police, stating that the matter “had been sorted out” and he doesn’t want to press charges against the teacher.
Education minister Bratya Basu has ordered an inquiry by the district inspector of schools, North 24-Parganas. “If the teacher is found guilty, action will be taken against her,” Basu said.
The girl is still traumatized and refuses to get out of her room. Even her classmates are so shocked that they complained to their parents, who staged a demonstration outside the school on Thursday.

The incident occurred at Berigopalpur Adarsha High School in Gaighata, about 65km from Kolkata. Three girls of Class VII turned up in school without the proper uniform. One of them had leggings under her skirt. The other teachers did not mind but the accused teacher pulled them up during her class. She had apparently warned the students earlier that she wanted them to come in uniform.

“When she scolded me, I explained that I was absent on Monday and Tuesday and did not know that she had warned the class. But she got extremely angry and tore my leggings in front of everybody. I cried out in shame. She then sent all three of us out of the class. When school was over, I begged to her to return the leggings but she refused. I had to walk back home in that state,”.

The girl’s father lodged a complaint at Gaighata police station on Thursday after which the officer-in-charge went to the school. By then, the parents’ agitation had started. Managing committee secretary Basudeb Ghosh and headmaster Swapan Bala convened a meeting with police and the teacher. The teacher refuted the charges initially but confessed after the girl was summoned and asked to narrate the incident.

“We have received a written undertaking from her that such incidents won’t be repeated. It was a shameful act. We shall meet again on Friday. If the teacher is found to be guilty, she will be punished,” Ghosh said. “We had lodged a general diary. Later in the day, the girl’s father told us that the matter had been sorted out and he does not want to press charges against the teacher,” police said.