more-in A parent took to social media to raise questions about the physical and mental abuse that was meted out to her five-year-old daughter by a teacher in a private school in the city. No molestation/corporal punishment was meted out to any child in this institution. — Principal of Eastwood High School in an email to The Hindu The woman alleged that the teacher would punish boys by forcibly pulling down their pants and making the rest of the nursery class chant “Shame, shame, puppy shame”. Her daughter was allegedly shamed by the removal of her undergarments, while being allowed to keep her skirt on. While the child’s nursery teacher and school principal have denied these allegations, the Karnataka State Commission for Protection of Child Rights has issued summons to the management of Eastwood High School in Cambridge Layout after it received a complaint from the woman. Such instances have a deep psychological impact on the child and there is a need to ensure that the teacher is suspended. Parents should also come forward and question these practices and need to be vigilant about them. — Vasudev Sharma, executive director, Child Rights Trust “I was shocked to hear from my daughter that they were shamed and the teacher removed their clothes in an effort to instil discipline among the kids,” the 33-year-old woman told The Hindu. She has alleged in her Facebook post that children in the class were also threatened and told that they would be taken to a dark room where a dog was kept and it would attack their private parts. However, the authorities of Eastwood High School in an email response to The Hindu said the allegations made by the parent are untrue. “No molestation/corporal punishment was meted out to any child in this institution,” said the school principal in the email. ‘Will investigate’ Kripa Amar Alva, chairperson of the Karnataka State Commission for Protection of Child Rights said they had made a note of the issue. “We will also ensure that one of the commission’s members conducts an investigation into the matter,” she said. This is a gross violation of the RTE Act, and the teacher can be booked under POCSO Act as well. The Education Department needs to look if the school has formulated a child protection policy and take stringent action if it hasn’t. — V.P. Niranjan Aradhya, Fellow, Centre for Child and the Law, NLSIU In her Facebook post, the mother claimed that parents of other children in the school were not coming forward to complain, despite her efforts to garner support. “My option is to change schools but that will not going to end the misery for the rest of the kids,” she said. Corporal punishment, too, was allegedly meted out to the children. “After warning the teacher three times, I complained to the principal who refused to acknowledge that teachers were raising their hands on children. But at the end of our conversation, the principal said that beating the child was the only way to instil discipline,” she told The Hindu. After the woman’s post went viral, a parents’ forum has started an online petition seeking justice for the child.

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