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In the past two months, four different incidents in schools in Delhi-NCR have shaken society – a 4-year-old sexually assaulted by school teachers inside the school’s washroom; the murder of a 7-year-old by a 16-year-old student inside a washroom in Ryan International school; an 11-year-old sexually abused by school staff inside school washroom in Greater Noida; and a 4-year-old sexually abused by her classmate inside the school’s washroom in Delhi’s Dwarka.
In the context of school safety becoming a serious concern, these incidents beg the question – should schools be held responsible for the lapses on their watch? Are they?
The answer to the first question can be found in the landmark judgment by the Juvenile Justice Board in 2017. Accessed by The Quint, it outlines a case in which a school Principal was sentenced to two months of imprisonment with a Rs 2.5 lakh fine for ill-treatment of a student. As for the second, it’s clear that schools are largely escaping accountability.
According to legal experts, it is essential that Section 75 of the Juvenile Justice Act 2015 be invoked to prosecute schools – but that is not what is happening.
In 2012, parents of a 7-year-old filed a complaint with the police that their child was ill-treated by the school administration and ‘confined by the school management throughout the school hours on 24 April 2012’ in order to pressurise parents to withdraw their child from the school.
The Juvenile Justice Board said:
The JJB punished the school Principal and a school teacher under Section 23 of The Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2000.
Citing the section in the judgment, the Board ordered the school to pay Rs 2.5 lakh in compensation, and the Principal was jailed for two months, on the following grounds:
Section 23 of The Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2000 is what became Section 75 of Juvenile Justice Act of 2015, after amendment.
In the amended Act, the quantum of imprisonment increased from six months to a term which may extend to three years.
In the Ryan International School murder case, where 7-year-old student, Pradyumn Thakur, was killed inside the school’s washroom, the Haryana Police invoked Section 75 of Juvenile Justice Act, 2015 in the FIR, along with other charges.
The Haryana Police even arrested two staff members of Ryan International School, who are currently out on bail. The owners and CEO of the school are on anticipatory bail. But the police didn’t do it of their own accord. According to Pradyumn’s family’s lawyer:
On 1 December, two school teachers from the renowned GD Birla Education Centre in Kolkata were arrested under Section 4 and 6 of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, 2012 for sexually assaulting a four-year-old student.
These two men were PT teachers who lured the child into the toilet by offering her chocolates, and then sexually assaulted her.
As per CBSE guidelines, all schools have to install CCTV cameras inside the school. But this school had none. The Principal of the school tried to get away by saying that the camera would be installed the same month.
The Kolkata Police has invoked Section 4 and 6 of POCSO Act to prosecute the two teachers, which says:
But since the child was in the custody of the school when the incident happened, why was Section 75 of JJ Act not invoked?
A 11-year-old school student was sexually abused by a member of school staff for 5 years in a Greater Noida school.
The UP Police registered a case under Section 377 of IPC and Sections 3 and 4 of POCSO Act, 2012.
Like Section 4 of POCSO of 2012, Section 3 deals with penetrative sexual assault on a child. In this case too, these sections can only prosecute the offender who abused the child and not the school, say experts. Juvenile Justice Board lawyer Ashish Kumar said:
An FIR was registered when a mother of a 4-year-old girl filed a complaint that her child was sexually assaulted by her 4-year-old classmate inside a classroom in Delhi.
The Delhi Police registered a case under Sections 4 and 21 of POCSO Act 2012. We have already referred to Section 4 earlier, here is Section 21.
According to experts, in this case, the police invoked Section 21 because the parent had clearly stated in her complaint that she informed the school authorities about the incident, but they did nothing.
Like previous cases, this case too is fit for Section 75 of JJ Act, 2015, but it was not invoked by the police.
Why are police shielding schools in these grave cases of negligence and abuse, when the fact that all of them occurred on school premises, under school authority, is not in dispute? It is a well-known fact that many schools are owned by powerful politicians and corporates – can India afford to let the problem of influence-peddling leave its children unprotected?
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