Period check in Thane school: School shut, key meeting called off, angry parents plan protest

“We all were very hopeful about the meeting on Friday as finally our concerns with the school management were going to be addressed. Additionally, in the same meeting a future plan of action was going to be decided for reopening of the school, which is now closed for over three days. This abrupt closure of the school has led to severe academic loss to students,” a parent said.

Although extremely disappointed and hurt with the way the school management behaved with girl students, parents expressed the need to address the concerns soon to restart the school. “The girls who were subjected to the inhuman behavior are certainly harmed mentally and emotionally. Apart from supporting them to go through the phase, we feel that it is equally important that their regular routine restarts. Keeping the entire school closed for so many days is not a solution to the problem,” another parent said.

The school has come under the scanner after eight staff members, including the principal and even the trustees — all women, have been booked under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act for conducting an unauthorised physical examination to determine if the girls were menstruating.

According to the complaint filed by parents with the police, the school was trying to trace the origin of bloodstains found on a toilet wall. “The school staff had taken a photo of the bloodstains on the wall which was projected onto a screen in the classroom asking girls to provide an explanation for it. When nobody responded, girls were asked to stand in two separate groups — those who were menstruating and others. As the staff was taking fingerprints of the girls who were menstruating allegedly to match it with the bloodstain on the toilet wall, nearly 10 girls were forced to undress for a physical check,” a parent said.

The issue came to light after girls narrated the incident to their parents who then approached the police. The principal and attendant were immediately arrested on Wednesday, three out of four accused teachers were arrested on Thursday whereas one teacher still remains at large. All those arrested were remanded in police custody until July 15.

Responding to concerns over school closure and abrupt cancellation of the meeting scheduled on Friday, the local school education officer said, “The meeting is purposefully postponed to Monday. With the principal and four teachers facing action, it was important to first ensure that there are persons taking over the responsibility so that when the education department gives required direction, we will have somebody to hold accountable for it. The trust has finally directed some senior teachers to take up the responsibility of principal and other responsible posts. And a meeting will now be held on Monday in their presence.”

The officer, however, said there should not be any issue with reopening of the school even as the number of teachers are less now. “They have more than enough teachers to ensure that academics are not impacted,” the officer said.