On May 7, 2017, parents of a three-year-old girl had approached MIDC police station alleging the founder trustee had sexually abused her in his office. (Representational Image)
While a group of parents of students of an international school in Andheri have moved the Maharashtra State Commission for Protection of Child Rights (MSCPCR) after its founding trustee, facing charges of sexually harassing a three-year-old, rejoined the school after his release on bail, around 300 other parents have come forward to support the 57-year-old trustee.
The parents have started a signature campaign to show support to the school and the founding trustee. After his release on bail, the founding trustee rejoined the school but a group of parents expressed fear and objected to his rejoining. Some of them wrote to the school administration expressing their fears.
However, according to parents who have started the signature campaign, a large number of guardians were in support of the school and the trustee from the beginning. “The signature campaign has just begun but our support to the school has been since Day One. It is just that a bunch of parents against the school have been contacting media, while we chose to stay with the school silently. But the time has come to show our support,” said a parent.
Another parent said: “We are and will communicate to this small group of parents who have been against the school after the incident. We strongly believe that the trustee is innocent and would continue to support him.”
On May 7, 2017, parents of a three-year-old girl had approached MIDC police station alleging the founder trustee had sexually abused her in his office. The victim’s mother, in her statement to police, said the abuse affected her daughter and her behaviour changed. After several months of asking her the reason for her increasing aloofness, the victim told her parents about the alleged sexual harassment.
The parents took her to a doctor, and a medical examination detected injuries in her private parts, after which the parents approached police to file an FIR. The trustee was arrested in November 2017 and granted bail in December 2017 following which he rejoined the school.
However, the group of parents who have moved MSCPCR claim that innocent or not, the police and the court will decide. “We are not against anyone. But an incident of such serious nature was reported, a trustee was arrested for the crime. He is just out on bail. How can we allow him to stay near our kids until he is acquitted by the court? There is no question of us backing down on this.”
The school administration in a letter to the parents said that 2017 had been a period of grave issues and difficulty for everyone at the school but now it’s time to move into 2018. “The founding trustee and a teacher faced shocking accusations. All that has been traumatising and disturbing. It’s only after two complete investigations that the founding trustee came back to school. It is now time to move into 2018 without any doubts, without any fears,” it said. The principal and the trustee could not be reached for comments.