Maha board denies strip searching of 2 girls during exams

The Maharashtra State Board of Secondary and Higher Secondary Education today denied that two minor girl students appearing for class 12 examinations were "strip searched" by two women guards at a school near here to deter copying. The alleged incident, which occurred during the exams held between February 21-28 at the Gurukul School of the Maharashtra Institute of Technology (MIT), had caused an outrage among parents. Following the incident, police had filed a case under various sections of the IPC and under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act (POCSO) against the two guards. Citing preliminary inquiry, a Board official said the girls were not "strip-searched" by the guards. "We had formed a two-member team of officials of the Pune division of State Board of Secondary and Higher Secondary Education. The team visited the school and recorded the statements of the centre head, school management and the woman staffers," said B K Dahiphale, Secretary of Pune division of the State Board of Secondary and Higher Secondary Education. He said though the woman staffers did check all the girls for chits to deter copying during exams, the two girls were "not undressed or strip-searched". Dahiphale, however, said the committee is yet to talk to the girls concerned and their statements are yet to be recorded. Refuting the allegations against their staffers, the MIT today claimed one of the girls and her parents filed a bogus case against the school management as the girl was not allowed to copy during the examination. "The charges levelled against our two staffers are baseless, false and defamatory towards our institution," said a release by MIT. The MIT has also approached the police with a complaint application against some parents for "trying to intimidate and threaten" the security guards at the exam centre.

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