Kozhikode: An aided higher secondary school in Malappuram district is in the midst of a controversy after its three girl students accused a teacher of sexual harassment. As the Malappuram Police registered two cases based on Protection of Children against Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, the teacher went missing. However, Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) alleged that there was a collective effort to tarnish the teacher, who is a prominent leader of the Youth League as well as a popular teacher. He also doubles up as the NSS programme coordinator in the school.
After a case was registered, the accused, an Urdu teacher at the school, went missing and the cops issued a look-out notice at the migration points like airports, said Malappuram CI Premjith A.
“A POCSO case was registered after the complaint forwarded by the school principal on November 24. The complaints were from three girls, but two students had written their complaint in one letter. Since the offence comes under the POCSO Act, we registered a case and the statements of the students were recorded in front of the magistrate. We cannot reveal the content of the complaint as the complainants are minors, but I can affirm that they admitted the teacher made sexual advances,” the CI said.
He added that since the accused was absconding, all measures were taken to prevent him from escaping to another country. There are also allegations that the incident took place during an NSS camp held at the school, and the teacher misbehaved with a girl student from another school. However, the YL leadership dismissed the alleged misconduct as only a congratulatory gesture from the teacher and he never misbehaved.
On November 28, the principal's daughter wrote on her Facebook that her father was targeted by some people by saying that he was the one who trapped the Urdu teacher. “On November 24, the students, without any political backing, came out of their classes and demanded the ouster of the Urdu teacher. They said that they would not attend the classes, till the teacher is removed from duties. My father told them that he can not take any action without written complaints. The students convened a 'school parliament' and gave nearly 50 petitions to the principal. According to the POCSO act, once the students raise a complaint, the head of the institution should hand over it to the police, else he also would become a culprit. It is baseless to allege that the principal himself went to the students to record their statements,” she wrote.
However, the district Youth League claimed the teacher was innocent and differences of opinion between the teacher and the principal caused the unsavoury incidents.
“The complaint is purely fabricated to trap the teacher, who is Youth League's district vice-president and was the state treasurer of Muslim Students Federation (MSF). He joined as the first Urdu teacher at the school only a few years ago, and was popular among the students also. The police also admit that majority of the statements cannot be considered as pointing to abuse,” said a district office-bearer of MSF.
The school has given strict direction to the employees as well as the students not to respond about the queries regarding the complaint and the case. When Onmanorama contacted the PTA president, he also refrained from commenting on the issue.
