3 min readMumbaiApr 17, 2023 03:08 PM IST
First published on: Apr 12, 2023 at 04:04 AM IST
The police on Monday booked the head and two headmistresses of a English medium school in Mumbai for allegedly making a Class VIII student sit on the floor outside the classroom for four months, as his parents could not pay his pending fee of Rs 7,500.
The FIR was lodged on the basis of a complaint filed by the student’s mother, who alleged that the school’s approach amounted to physical and mental harassment of her child. She also alleged that another one of her children, who is a student of Class II in the same school, faced insulting and discriminatory behaviour from the headmistress of the primary section over non-payment of fees.
According to the police complaint, the woman lives with her husband, her in-laws and four children — aged 13, 12, 11 and 6. Three of the children study at the school, a government-recognised English medium school.
The woman has alleged that she used to regularly pay the fees of her children. However, her family has been facing financial problems since her husband was diagnosed with tuberculosis and could not go to work, she added.
In her complaint, the woman has said that the teachers of the school, on the instructions of the accused, did not allow her son in Class VIII to enter the classroom and made him sit on the floor outside for four months.
He was also insulted in front of other children, as he was told that “whatever you want to learn, you can learn by sitting outside the class”, the woman said in her statement.
“My child was attending classes by sitting outside the classroom. But as he felt insulted and faced discriminatory behaviour, he started feeling mentally stressed and did not want to go to school. A teacher taunted my child over non-payment of fees and as a result, he keeps on crying at home. His mental state is disturbing. He was not allowed to give the unit test in January,” the mother said in the FIR.
The woman alleged that when she met the teachers in school, she was told that if she was not capable of looking after the education of her children, she should get them educated at a municipal school.
The woman said in her complaint that she was told that the school would not allow her son to sit for the annual exam till the fee was paid. While Rs 7,500 in fees was pending for the Class VIII student, Rs 19,000 had to be paid for the Class II student.
The police have registered a case under Section 23 (cruelty to a juvenile or child) of the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2000. DCP (Zone 8) Dixit Gedam said, “Based on the complaint filed by the mother, we have booked three persons from the school. We are verifying her allegations and accordingly will decide on further course of action.”
The FIR was lodged on the basis of a complaint filed by the student’s mother, who alleged that the school's approach amounted to physical and mental harassment of her child. 
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