Police in India arrested the principal and an attendant of a school for allegedly stripping around 10 girl students to check if they were menstruating after blood stains were found inside a toilet.
The incident took place in Thane in western India’s Maharashtra state when blood stains were spotted in a washroom by the school’s staff members on Tuesday.
The Thane Rural Police issued a statement confirming that they have taken action against the school authorities after parents of the aggrieved minors staged a protest.
The information to the school principal about the stains in the washroom led to the faculty summoning the girls from grade 5 to grade 10 at the convention hall. The students were then shown photos of the blood stains in the toilet and on the tiles, police said.
School teachers then asked the students to disclose their period cycles and confirm who was on their periods. The teachers noted down the details of the girls and teenagers who raised their hands and took them to the washroom where they were stripped and checked by the attendants, police said, according to The Indian Express. The principal and the attendant arrested are both women.
The students reportedly went home in tears and informed their parents about the disturbing probe by the school authorities. Several parents on Wednesday went to the school and protested against the act. The parents also demanded strict action against the management and teachers.
One of the students complained she was asked by the principal about why she was using a sanitary pad when she was not on her periods. The principal then accused the student of lying and forced her to submit a thumb impression, according to the Thane Rural Police.
A parent said that the action by the school teachers “amounts to mental harassment to the girls”.
The police have also arrested four teachers and two trustees for the incident and the arrested will be produced before the court on Thursday.
All have been booked under relevant sections of the stringent Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act.
The investigation is underway and the police officials said they are collecting more evidence from the students.
The school principal denied that she ordered a strip-search or that it took place, according to the BBC.
