CHILDLINE Eluru rescued 15 girls who were being sexually harassed by
their school Principal in Tadepalligudem, Andhra Pradesh. The CHILDLINE Eluru
team received a phone call from one of the girls about the indecent behaviour
by the founder cum Principal of Sunshine High School. The 7th standard student
was completely vexed with his behaviour and mustered up the courage to finally
call 1098 and complain about his conduct.
On receiving the call, the CHILDLINE team immediately informed the Nodal
coordinator and Collab director, Rev. Fr. Dr. Addanki Raju with whose suggestion
the team contacted the CIC to plan the rescue operation.The CIC asked the team
to collect all the facts in the area regarding the allegations and question the
community members about the school and the principal before heading to the
school for a rescue. CHILDLINE members spent 4 rigorous days in collecting the
required information from surrounding areas. They talked to the parents of the
students as well so as to understand the scenario better. The team members
posed themselves as parents wanting to admit their children in Sunshine High
School and through this process they found out the reality about the school and
its Principal. Some people who lived around the school confirmed the incidents
of sexual abuse by the Principal. It was also found that even though some
parents questioned the Principal about his behaviour, he managed to escape and
settle the matter by compromising with the parents of the victim children.
After gathering all the necessary information, the CIC arranged for a 6
member team to carry out the rescue operation at the school. This 6 member team
comprised of the Nodal and Collab coordinator, a counselor and 3 CHILDLINE
members. Before entering the school, the Collab co-ordinator phoned the Mandal
Education Officer to participate in the operation and requested for their
support if needed.
Early next morning the team approached the school Principal saying that
the district collector had ordered CHILDLINE to conduct an awareness program in
all the surrounding schools. On hearing this, the Principal gave his permission
for the awareness program in his school. The 6 member team divided the boys and
girls into separate groups for the awareness program. All the girls were taken
to a separate classroom and were explained about the 1098 service for about 30
minutes. The co-ordinator then asked the girls if they knew about the number
1098. Most of the girls answered in the affirmative and informed that they knew
about 1098 through an awareness program that was conducted earlier in Tadepalligudem
and had also seen the number in their school text books. The co-ordinator then
enquired with the girls if they wanted to share any problems they were facing.
The team observed that the girls were murmuring among themselves and it looked
as though they wanted to share what was on their mind but were hesitant to do
so. Later, one girl stood up and said, "Sir, I called 1098 recently".
Seeing that she was scared, the CHILDLINE team assured all the girls that they
would support them and help them in solving the matter. The girls were a bit
relived on hearing this and slowly, one after the other; they started
complaining about their Principal and his behaviour towards them. The CHILDLINE
team at this time was recording the statements of each child and it was found
that 15 out of a total of 25 girls were molested by the school Principal.
After recording the statements the Nodal Coordinator immediately rung up
the Mandal Education Officer and informed him about the sexual harassment in
the school. Soon after, the MEO reached the school he had a word with the girls
and confirmed that the allegations were true. The Centre co-ordinator gave a
written complaint to the MEO and called the Deputy Superintendent of Police to
book the case. The Deputy Superintendent of Police in turn directed the
Tadepalligudem SI to take the necessary action. The SI inquired with the girls
and immediately arrested the Principal. The case has been booked under U/S 354
IPC and Sec 10 of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act,
2012.
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