GHAZIABAD: The principal and administrative in-charge of GD Goenka Public School in Raj Nagar Extension were booked on Monday after two sisters were allegedly confined to a room for almost nine hours on August 20 for not clearing dues apparently amounting to Rs 2.5 lakh.Principal Vandana Midha and administrative in-charge Vibha have been booked under Section 342 (illegal confinement) of the IPC and Section 75 (punishment for cruelty to child) of the Juvenile Justice (Care & Protection of Children) Act, 2015. The FIR was registered at Sihani Gate police station on Monday following a complaint by the girls’ mother. If proved guilty, the principal and administrative official could face four years’ imprisonment and a Rs 1 lakh fine each under the two sections.The principal said the school was to get Rs 2.5 lakh from the two students. “We have a composite fee structure and the two girls in question have defaulted on payments in 2016-17, 2017-18 and two quarters of 2018-19. The total money due to us is around Rs 2.5 lakh. The elder girl has been given a 25% concession in the sports quota though she doesn’t qualify for it,” she said.The mother, who heads managerial operations for a private firm in East Delhi , said her two daughters had been studying in Classes VI and XII of the school for the past six years. Difference, however, cropped up between the woman and the school management after she refused to pay the “annual charges”, citing an ordinance by the UP government pertaining to regulation of fees in private schools.“On August 20, the school staff refused to allow my children inside the gate. They, however, let them in after sometime, but kept the kids confined to a room for nine hours. The children were not allowed to leave the room even after classes gave over at 1.30pm. I got a call from the school informing me that I needed to be there. It was only after a police team reached the school around 4.30pm that my children were let off,” the woman has alleged.The principal said the girls were not allowed to enter the school as they were late. “We don’t allow students who miss the bell into classes. Three boys who too were late were sent back home. We didn’t send back the girls as they were alone and kept them instead in a resource room meant for teachers. We called their mother repeatedly but she didn't respond. We provided the kids with food and water through the day,” she said.Members of the Ghaziabad-based All School Parents’ Association had accompanied Dutta to the Sihani Gate police station on August 20 and helped her lodge a complaint.“The school denied confining the kids. But the children told us that they had been kept under the watch of an attendant who even accompanied them to the washroom lest they escape,” said Shivani Jain, the president of the parents’ association.The sisters continued attending their classes after the complaint was lodged. On August 21, the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights directed the police to immediately book the school management. The police, however, took six more days to register the complaint.Asked about the delay, SSP Vaibhav Krishna said: “Since the allegations were against an educational institute that has a substantial number of students, we decided to conduct a probe before registering a case. The investigation revealed there was indeed a laxity on the part of the school management. Action will be taken in accordance with the law.”

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