Book HM under SC/ST Act and arrest her, says DVK

Coimbatore: The Dravida Vidhuthalai Kazhagam (DVK) on Wednesday urged city police commissioner Sumit Sharan to book Kandhasamy Nagar Government Primary School headmistress Jayanthi, who was placed under suspension for abusing lower caste students verbally and physically, under the SC/ST Prevention of Atrocities Amendment Act, 2015.
“This case qualifies for legal action and caste discrimination is a non-bailable offence,” said DVK district secretary Nirmal Kumar, who submitted audio recordings of Jayanthi verbally abusing and insulting the children to the city police commissioner.
In the recordings, the headmistress could be heard asking a girl student, who vomited after having lunch, if she was pregnant. “The suspension is a departmental action and it is only a temporary move. Her actions are nothing but crime under our law and constitution and the state needs to take legal action against her,” Nirmal Kumar said.
He said a few activists and residents of S P Kandhasamy Nagar had earlier approached the Saravanampatti police with audio recordings as evidence, demanding them to register a case against Jayanthi. “However, police discouraged them, saying only the person who recorded the audio could lodge the complaint. It is obvious that the audio recording is done by a dalit child. How could the child come and lodge a complaint?”
Nirmal Kumar said they wanted police to register a first information report (FIR) against the teacher and arrest her as any complaint filed under the SC/ST Prevention of Atrocities Act is non bailable.
On Monday, a section of students and their parents had approached district collector K Rajamani seeking appropriate action against the headmistress for targeting students belonging to lower caste. The education department subsequently placed her under suspension on Tuesday.