Taking cognisance of sexual assault of two boys by their classmates, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Tuesday ordered the suspension of teachers and the vice-principal of a government school in northwest Delhi over their alleged failure to report to the police.
Kejriwal also directed the Directorate of Education to prepare high-quality material for reference of all teachers and principals. The CM asked the Directorate of Education to issue guidelines for schools to handle cases of abuse in a supportive environment for children.
Delhi Education Minister Atishi also wrote to the Directorate of Education to ensure rigorous training of all principals and teachers on the provisions of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act (POCSO) to avoid such incidents in future.
What was the case?
According to the police, the two boys, aged 12 and 13 years, filed separate complaints alleging that they were sexually assaulted by five to six classmates. The alleged incident took place in April during a summer camp organised by the school, said police officials.
One victim, a 13-year-old boy alleged that his classmates forcefully took him to a park and sexually assaulted him. The accused also threatened him not to disclose it to anyone.
Later, the accused again started troubling him, then he told his teachers about the incident. But, the teacher asked the child not to tell anyone about the incident. However, the victim informed his parents about the incident and they later made a PCR call and filed a case with the police on Sunday.
