The headmaster of a government model higher secondary school in Perundurai Taluk was, on Monday, placed under suspension for allegedly failing to take action against a teacher after three Plus Two (class 12) girls lodged a sexual harassment complaint against the teacher.
The girls lodged complaints against V. Thirumalaimoorthy (49), a Biology teacher, accusing him of sexual harassment during online classes and also during classes conducted in school from September. They took up the issue with the headmaster, Ganesan, two months ago. But, the headmaster allegedly failed to initiate action against the teacher and also asked the students not to disclose the issue to anyone.
However, the girls alerted Childline, 1098, after which the District Child Protection Unit conducted an inquiry and lodged a complaint with the All Women Police Station, Erode. A case under Section 9 (f) (i) r/w 10 and 11 (1) r/w 12 of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act (POCSO), 2012 was registered, and Thirumalaimoorthy was arrested on Sunday.
On Monday, Chief Educational officer N. Ramakrishnan placed Ganesan under suspension for failing to take action against the complaints.
Earlier in the day, students and parents staged a road roko outside the school demanding action against the headmaster for failing to take action against the complaints for two months. Parents said that the safety of their children in the school was compromised and demanded stringent action against the accused and the headmaster. Police personnel held talks with the protestors after which students and parents left.
