KOLKATA: The
Calcutta High Court has formed an expert committee of school representatives and counsellors to create a set of model guidelines for a standard operating procedure (SOP) to protect children from sexual abuse in schools.
On Monday, representatives of eight prominent schools in Kolkata were asked to be present in the court by Justice Nadira Patherya and be part of the expert committee. Advocate Phiroze Edulji, who has been appointed
amicus curiae by the court in this matter, will be submitting the model guidelines on November 12 when the matter comes up for hearing next.
The court was hearing a writ petition against the alleged sexual abuse of a four-year-old child at a prominent south Kolkata school on November 30, 2017. The petition was moved by advocate Priyanka Tibrewal on behalf of the child’s parents.
“State Council for the Protection of Child Rights (SCPCR) guidelines and other child rights manuals have been published and will be of help to the experts. Advocate Phiroze Edulji will take steps to coordinate with different schools and assistance should be taken of counsellors through the director of the Modern High School for Girls, Debi Kar. She will also be a part of the team of experts,” the court has directed.
Justice Patherya also directed that the
Unicef office in Bengal, Mahesh Menon, assistant professor,
West Bengal National University of Juridical Sciences (WBNUJS) and the principal secretary, department of school education, will be members of the team as “their assistance will add value to the work in hand”.
In their petition in the high court, the child’s parents have accused both the police and school authorities of inaction and delay that resulted in further trauma for their daughter. It was also pointed out in the petition that the police didn’t submit the medico-legal report of their child from SSKM Hospital dated December 1, 2017, to the Child Welfare Committee.
