Toddler abuse cases in two upmarket schools continued to foment agitation and anger in Kolkata. Even as the police on Tuesday tried to preempt the situation going from bad to worse by subjecting the principal of one of the schools to more than five hours grilling the parents of the other school demanded CBI investigation into the sexual abuse of a kindergarten student in that institution more than three months ago accusing both the management and local police of complicity.
The principal of GD Birla School was questioned for more than five hours after the parents of the child lodged an FIR against her for trying to hush up the matter. The two teachers had since been arrested and remanded to 12-days police custody for sexually abusing a 4-year-old child who allegedly returned home profusely bleeding on the fateful day.
Even as the tone and tenor of the authorities underpinned their reluctance to sacrifice the principal on account of her “good record as an able administrator” the parents complained how the lady exhibited her administrative prowess in a similar incident happening three years ago by going back on her words to take adequate security measures by fixing CCTV cameras in the least at vantage points.
The guardians continued to demand her resignation and arrest for dereliction of duty but as also “criminal conspiracy by trying to shield the accused saying the victim had returned home smiling on the fateful day with her mother.”
The story of insensitivity on the part of the police and the school authorities appeared on a day when National Crime Record Bureau reports placed Bengal in the fifth place in terms of crime against children.
The “insensitivity and arrogance” of the school administration was illustrated further by the “regret letter” --- mailed to all the guardians about the incident --- that mentioned the name of the victim and addressed the agitating guardians “the de facto pay masters of the school staff” as “mob,” parents alleged.
At the MP Birla School in Behala a few miles away the guardians continued to protest against the similar arrogance of the management and “complicity of the police” demanding CBI investigation into a similar incident that took place three months ago when a toddler was similarly abused inside a toiled by two peons.
The local police not only discouraged the family from filing an FIR saying “if you do so the child will be sent to a designated home” but also they allegedly sat over the case allowing the erring staff to continue on the job. It was only after the incident in the GD Birla School got media attention that a similar agitation started at the MP Birla School following which one of the accused was arrested, sources said.
Meanwhile, both the schools remained closed indefinitely pending meetings between parents and the administration. “A meeting will take place tomorrow where demands would be discussed after which the school will be allowed to open,” sources said.