According to the girls’ mother, the alleged confinement was due to a conflict between her and school authorities over the school’s annual fee increment, which she had refused to pay. (Illustration: CR Sasikumar)
An FIR was registered by a parent against officials of GD Goenka Public School in Ghaziabad Monday, accusing the school of confining her two daughters for nine hours due to non-payment of the annual fee increment. However, the school has countered the allegation and said the girls had come late to school, and the issue has nothing to do with fee payment.
Under the FIR, the principal and administrative in charge face charges of cruelty to children under the Juvenile Justice Act and wrongful confinement. “The complaint had been filed by the mother last Monday. We registered it after carrying out a preliminary investigation and ascertaining that there was sufficient grounds to do so,” said SHO, Sihani Gate, Sanjay Pandey.
The mother, whose two daughters study in Class XII and Class VI, alleged that the girls were blocked by five teachers and not allowed to enter when they were dropped there by a private cab on the morning of August 20. According to her, the school called and asked her to pick them up, but she insisted that they be let inside. “Till 1.30, when school ends, I got no communication from their side. At 1.45, the driver who had gone to pick them up said they had still not come out. When he went inside, the school said they wouldn’t send them back with him and insisted that I show up. I was in Gurgaon for a meeting and said it would take me a long time to reach. They didn’t even let me talk to my children on the phone,” she claimed.
She said that before going to the school, she gathered police and members of the parents’ association. “Only at 4 pm were the children handed over to me. They were crying and told me they were confined in a room. They were not even allowed to go to the washroom without a maid,” she claimed. According to her, the alleged confinement was due to a conflict between her and school authorities over the school’s annual fee increment, which she had refused to pay.
However, the school’s principal Vandana Midha claimed the allegations were untrue. “The girls had been dropped to the school at 8.30 while the gates shut at 7.30. We asked the mother to pick them up or allow us to drop them home but she refused. Since I didn’t want them stranded, I allowed them in and they were placed in a remedial room…When school ended, a driver without the escort card came to pick them up so we asked the mother to come,” she said.
However, the mother alleged the girls had reached at 7.10 am.