On July 22, a minor student of class 8 from a government high school in Barhait, Sahibganj presented a complaint letter against their principal for molesting her and others. The girl made serious allegations against, Mohammad Shamshad Ali in this regard. The letter is widely circulating on the internet and police teams are investigating the matter.
Notably, on July 21, more than a dozen of girl students opened up to their parents about the harassment they were facing at school. Later on, the angry parents reached the school and thrashed the principal, followed by a complaint letter to the police.
Ali is the principal of Utkramit high school, Panchkathiya in the Barhit village of Sahibaganj district in Jharkhand. It is a government school and thus, the principal is a government servant.
As per the complaint letter to the Station House Officer, Barhait the 13-year-old victim alleged that Ali was involved in harassment of girls in the school. He is a repeated offender and has been doing this for a long time now. He used to threaten the students saying, he can get them rusticated.
The complainant added, “Ali used to touch my private parts. I was not going to school for two straight days, so my father asked me about it. I told him everything”.
She is not the only victim, as the principal has been doing this to other girls for a long time now. When the parents reached the school to confront him, he started abusing them instead of accepting his misconduct with the students.
As per the media reports, several parents assembled at the school to learn about the misconduct. Later, Ali tried misbehaving with some of the female guardians, and later on, an argument took the form of thrashing.
The video statement of minor students is also going viral on social media, where the fellow classmates of the complainant said, “Ali sir used to take us to a separate room, if in group he used to ask us to sit on his lap and touch us inappropriately”.
Other girls also nodded to the same saying, Ali sir used to grass girls in the class. He used to visit every class and enter the row having most girls, he would simply ignore the boys in the class, he would keep his hand on shoulders; and things like this.
As of now, Ali has been admitted to the local hospital following the bruises he sustained. As the allegations are serious, the police is investigating the matter. The matter has been looked after by Barhait police station in-charge Gaurav Kumar.
Sharing the complaint letter on social media, the BJP state president Babulal Marandi wrote on Twitter, “A helpless father has written this letter to the police station in-charge Barhet-Sahibganj. My heart is breaking after reading the letter. It is alleged that the Principal of Upgraded High School, Panchkathia Mohd. Shamshad Ali makes repeated attempts to assault a girl student sexually,”
“When the daughter told this to the family members and the matter progressed further, other girl students also came forward and narrated their ordeal. (Evidence is attached in the video). This is the constituency of Honorable Chief Minister. It is expected that the Chief Minister will automatically take cognizance in this matter and will ask the police to take action. Seeing the caste or religion of the teacher, there should be no laxity in action,” he added.
https://twitter.com/igopalgoswami/status/1682680227074539521?s=2
On July 20, Organiser reported about Hindu activists protesting outside a missionary school in Bokaro, Jharkhand. The activists assembled outside the school on July 18, after a minor Hindu boy was thrashed by the teachers for wearing ‘Kalawa’ (a sacred thread). It is noteworthy that the accused is aided by government funds and is present almost in every state of India, ‘The Carmel Convent’ school.
The incident comes within 10 days of the suicide of a minor Hindu girl in Jharkhand’s Dhanbad. Notably, Usha Kumari killed herself by writing a suicide note, stating she felt humiliated after the school staff slapped her for wearing a Bindi in school.
She wrote a suicide letter before hanging from the ceiling fan and named the teacher as the reason for her suicide. She said, “I am not able to digest the insult, so killing myself”.
Usha was upset over her insult in front of the whole class. Notably, one of her teachers identified as Sindu Mam, not only scolded Usha but also slapped her for wearing a Bindi at the school. Usha committed suicide on July 10 in her house.
Following the family’s complaint, the accused teacher and the principal of the school were booked.
